Call the Fire Department! Err…Maybe Not.
It’s Only Taxes. Let It Burn!
Fire chief reports another rating upgrade; new truck
By Greg Reilly on September 25, 2014
“…The department is acquiring a brand new Seagrave Aerialscope II 95-foot Tower Ladder truck, with a price tag of approximately $1.1 million…” http://www.stratfordstar.com/28845/fire-chief-reports-another-rating-upgrade-new-truck/
Only last week it was announced that, “…acquiring two new trucks with a combined cost over $1 million, acquiring new breathing apparatus with a cost of roughly $300,000…” http://www.stratfordstar.com/28510/town-improves-fire-rating-property-owners-may-save/
Umm, does anyone else notice that all that adds up to $2.4 MILLION on top of the FD’s $12 MILLION/year budget (not including overtime)? What happen to the FD Boat anyway? Haven’t seen that little expensive toy lately. How many times in the last, oh say, 375 years had we had to call for the assistance of a 95 foot tower ladder?
How many times can Harkins sell the WPCA to cover this? But wait! We homeowners are in luck! We may save up to $50 a year. “…Property owners are encouraged to check with their insurance agents or companies to see how the improved town rating might affect their insurance premiums…Savings of approximately $50 per year is not unrealistic, according to the mayor’s office, depending upon the rating system used by the resident’s homeowners insurance company and the value of the property insured.” $50? A year? (Note: don’t bother. Unless they just put a fire hydrant outside your front door, your insurance company doesn’t care).
Something’s burning out of control. That’s for sure.
And lest we forget; remember the big deal Harkins closed? You remember, the one where he gave up valuable Stratford land to the City of Bridgeport? He told us we would benefit because Main Street wouldn’t flood anymore. It would be raised!
He didn’t mention it would only be raised 12 inches and still flood did he?
“…Flooding on the section of Main Street/Route 113 near the end of the runways at Sikorsky Airport may occur less often and may drain away faster after the road is rebuilt as part of the airport improvement project now underway, but, according to the project engineer, “it will still flood….The new road will be about one foot higher in elevation than the section that will be replaced.” http://www.stratfordstar.com/28841/main-street-will-still-flood-after-airport-construction-project/
And then, for our own safety, Main Street will be closed because it’s too dangerous to even drive by the disturbed ground. Wonderful! Heckuva job, Johnny!
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Stratford Politics 
Somehow all i could think of as i read this was that Hess commercial, ‘The Hess trucks here and its better than ever”. Perhaps our Fire Chief and Harkins never got a Hess truck as a kid growing up so they are going for the real thing. Do the excesses never cease?
How many teachers, EMT’s, nurses or even crossing guards can we hire for $2.4+ million? Maybe even more senior housing?
Update:
And yet the Stratford Star can find the time to cheer the mayor on for raising our taxes again:
“The end result of this diligence is a town with an improved fire insurance rating, so that property owners may save on their insurance costs, and, more importantly, the town has greater capabilities to save lives and structures.
Congratulations and compliments.” http://www.stratfordstar.com/28817/compliments-to-town-leaders/
Apparently they are sticking with the “lower insurance rate” fable. But, go ahead, call your insurance company. It would be interesting to see if they’ve even heard of an ISO rating (ours never did). In the meantime we will continue our search for a structure that is 95 feet tall that may catch on fire someday. We sure hope that whatever that structure is that it is worth $1.1 million.
I called my insurance company. They politely said “please repeat the question” and that they would call back. That was several seeks ago.
Update:
Town expecting fire boat
By Stratford Star on December 29, 2014
“According to Stratford Professional Firefighters Facebook page, Stratford Fire Department’s new Fire Rescue Boat has been sea trialed and should be delivered in January.” http://www.stratfordstar.com/31585/town-expecting-fire-boat/
How much did that cost? Will it finally be able to outrun the PD boat and get to a scene first? Maybe if we bought a couple of airplanes and an aircraft carrier to launch them from? Maybe the new 95 foot tower ladder can just reach across and scoop up whatever is amiss on the river?
But why stop spending tax money? It’s possible that there could be a riot at Lord Chamberlain or the Atria. That’s why PD had to get a tank.
“The truck has 30,000 pounds of armor on a Dodge chassis and is known at the police department as The Peacekeeper, according to Lt. Frank Eannotti.
“It is armored, not armed,” Eannotti said.”
Police use military equipment to protect the public. By Greg Reilly on December 22, 2014 http://www.stratfordstar.com/31487/police-use-military-equipment-to-protect-the-public/
Remind me again, where do we live? We need our own Army, Navy and Airforce?