Paul Feely – The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
(TNS)
Jan. 20—A request by the city fire chief to apply for grant funding to hire firefighters was rejected last week by a committee of aldermen, to the surprise of some.
Chief Ryan Cashin sought permission to apply for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant of up to $4 million for funding to hire 12 additional firefighters.
No match was required for the grant, and Cashin was asking only to apply for the funds — a process that could take up to 18 months before receiving an answer. If the bid was successful, the matter would come back to the aldermen for approval before the grant could be accepted.
The request was denied on a 3-2 vote, with aldermen (and former fire chief) Jim Burkush and Pat Long in favor and Chris Morgan, Ross Terrio and Crissy Kantor opposed.
Asked by Terrio about the cost of pay and benefits for a firefighter, Cashin said the average starting pay is around $45,000 per year, with benefits ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 a year, depending on whether the firefighter has a single or family insurance plan.
That works out to about $900,000 per year for 12 firefighters, or about $2.7 million over the three-year span of the grant.
“What happens at the end of three years?” Terrio asked. “They would roll into our budget? At the end of three years we would have to fund the positions?”
“You are not required to, but yes, that’s how it would work,” Cashin said. “It would depend on what happens between then and now. There could be retirements, there could be vacancies, there could be a lot of things that happen between now and then.”
Cashin said if the department were approved for a grant for 12 firefighters, the city wouldn’t have the option to hire fewer than that number.
Late last week, Cashin said that though the Community Improvement Committee voted against recommending his request for approval, the issue may not be dead yet.
“Right now we’re going to watch the process,” Cashin said. “There will be a minority report filed, and it will go to the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen at the next meeting, and we’re anxious to talk about it there.”
Cashin said hiring firefighters has become increasingly difficult in the city as well as the state.
“The truth is there’s more firefighter positions than there are firefighters to take them,” Cashin said. “Here in Manchester we’ve done a pretty good job of promoting the Manchester Fire Department as an aggressive fire department, as well as being progressive on every possible avenue we can find.
“Our goal is to be the best fire department in the state of New Hampshire when it comes to firefighter operations, firefighter training and firefighter safety.”
Cashin said the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1710 — which defines levels of service, staffing, deployment capabilities and other critical requirements for career fire departments — calls for a minimum of four firefighters on every firefighting apparatus.
“This SAFER money will allow us to get to 50% of the fire apparatus in the city of Manchester meeting that requirement,” Cashin said. “We look at this as kind of a good step to get us to 50% to allow for a better, effective firefighting force throughout the city of Manchester. Statistics prove that a four-person fire company works 80 percent faster than a three-person fire company.”
The vote was along party lines, with three Republicans opposed and two Democrats in favor.
This vote, combined with the vote seeking a pause in school facilities work, caught former board chair and Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long’s attention.
“I know now that the Republicans, I hate talking Republicans-Democrats, but that’s what it’s become — the Republicans voted in line, the Democrats didn’t vote in line,” Long said. “I’m seeing that they are being told how to vote.
“When you look at a couple of the votes, the Democrats were split on issues — that’s what we do, you vote your conscience. I’m not going to tell you how to vote — let’s have the debate and you vote your conscience. But I’m seeing the Republicans, they’re being told how to vote, and if that’s the way they want to work, that’s fine.
“I just believe it’s best when we all work together. That is not happening, and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen in my mind.”
Affordable housing grants
Mayor Jay Ruais last week announced the city has received two state grants totaling $1.42 million to help develop two affordable housing projects. The first, at 351 Chestnut Street, is set to create 98 affordable housing units, while the second project — at 345 Chestnut Street — will add 44 affordable units.
“These grants are a testament to the collaborative efforts between the state of New Hampshire and the City of Manchester to make affordable housing a reality for our residents,” Ruais said. “With these funds, we can continue to build a stronger community and these grants are just the beginning of our work to make housing affordable for our residents.
Bicycle master plan
Efforts to update the city’s Bicycle Master Plan appear to have hit a bump in the road.
City planning board chair Bryce Kaw-uh sent a memo to aldermen last summer asking to hire a consultant to draft an updated Bicycle Master Plan, based on current data and community feedback.
“Bicycling is an increasingly important mode of transportation for a wide range of activities here in Manchester such as getting to work, running errands, and general wellness,” Kaw-uh wrote.
“DPW recognized this in 2016 when it created the original document to ‘develop a workable, realistic plan for the future that will encourage bicycle use and make it safer for residents to ride their bicycles.’ Since then, the need for improved bicycling facilities has only become more critical,” Kaw-uh wrote.
“We have approved thousands of new housing units downtown; new multi-use trails are under construction across the city, and more people are exploring alternative forms of transportation,” he said. “It is imperative that we create a built environment where all Manchester residents, regardless of age or ability, are kept safe and feel safe when enjoying what this city has to offer.”
Kaw-uh made his pitch to aldermen in person in the fall, saying public safety is a critical issue.
Planning board members voted unanimously to request approximately $150,000 in funding for a new official analysis of bicycle infrastructure in the Queen City and future opportunities for improvement.
The funding request had remained tabled at the committee level since October until last week, when members of the Committee on Community Improvement voted to remove the item from the table and receive and file it — effectively killing the request.
“Kids should be able to bike to school without sharing a lane with rapidly moving two-ton vehicles,” Kaw-uh said. “Adults like you and me should be able to hop on a bike for a quick errand or afternoon ride without worrying for our well-being.
“And I think we can all agree that neither people in cars nor people on bikes want to be sharing a lane with each other. But right now, we have no choice in most of the city.”
Kaw-uh said an update would align the citywide Bicycle Master Plan with the targeted 2020 Transit Oriented Development Plan, the 2021 Master Plan and the 2023 Trail Master Plan, “all of which strongly advocate for the creation of new bicycle and pedestrian facilities to foster improved community connections.
“This would also help with congestion reduction, because every person on a bike takes up less space than in a car,” Kaw-uh said. “We are a growing city, and unless we plan to ban more people from moving to Manchester, we’re going to have to come up with ways to reduce traffic. Giving people the freedom to bike safely, if that’s what they want to do, is an important piece of that puzzle.”
Kaw-uh wrote that several stakeholders, including planning board members and Department of Public Works staff, believe the city’s current Bicycle Master Plan is outdated and in need of updates.
Paul Feely is the City Hall reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at pfeely@unionleader.com.
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