#MiddleburyCT #Region5DiveTeam #MVFD
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Editor’s Note: The January 2023 print issue of this article incorrectly referred to the “Region 15 Dive Team.” We often report on Regional School District 15.
The Middlebury Board of Selectmen considered a number of issues at their meetings on Monday, December 5, and Monday, December 19. The Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department was on the agenda for both meetings.
Per the December 5 meeting minutes (this reporter was unable to attend) Chief Brett Kales was present for a review of the Insurance Service Office Public Protection Classification Summary Report. First Selectman Edward B. St. John questioned the minimum credit for ladder service and noted the town earned 21.45 out of a possible 50 credits for the Fire Department. St. John said he will look into a routine hydrant inspection and flow testing.
When Fire Captain Mike Vonkannewurff questioned the -6.03 for divergence, St. John suggested he contact the insurance company and ask them to explain their finding.
The discussion then turned to the town funding a local fire training facility. The current training facility is in Wolcott. St. John said he believes it’s time for the town to look seriously at funding a training facility here. He said he spoke with Phil Butler of Fire Training Structures LLC in Long Island. He said the company’s website shows many of their facilities have been purchased by Connecticut fire departments.
Butler told him they offer a modular system that allows you to add components, modify them and replace them if they become damaged. St. John said it is not beyond Middlebury’s reach to spend money on a training facility. He recommended using the area off Woodside Avenue since it offers accessibility to water and hydrant use.
He said he will work on finding a location and he asked Kales and Vonkannewurff to work with Butler unless they had a different company in mind. Vonkannewurff said he had looked at other businesses but found Fire Training Structures LLC had the most flexible, cost-effective solution.
St. John said Butler suggested if the MVFD is interested in their products they may want to visit the Wappingers Falls Fire Department training facility in New York.
At the December 19 meeting, selectmen considered a mutual aid agreement for the Region 5 Dive Team. Attorney Bob Smith, who had drafted the agreement, said he had checked state statutes and felt such an agreement needed to be properly called an interlocal agreement rather than a mutual aid agreement. “Under the statutes, it’s really not mutual aid,” he said. He said he will make the needed changes so the agreement conforms with state statutes and also will restructure the agreement.
As it stands now, the agreement would be among six fire departments – Bantam, Beacon Falls, Middlebury, Morris, Terryville and Thomaston. With approval from these departments, other departments could join the team subject to the terms of the agreement.
A benefit the agreement mentions is that it allows them to combine resources to better cope with emergencies they might not be able to cope with by themselves. It leverages the collective resources of the agencies.
Each member is to cover its costs for personnel, equipment, facilities and related resources used while assisting. Each member also shall pay $2,000 annually to offset the costs of the Region 15 Dive Team owned equipment maintenance and replacement. The agreement does not specify the equipment owned by the dive team rather than by the individual departments.
It also states each entity will be responsible for workers’ compensation coverage, automobile liability, general liability, pubic officials liability and law enforcement liability.
In a separate matter, at the December 5 meeting, selectmen discussed and voted on opting out of three zoning regulation overrides passed during the state’s 2021 legislative session. The minutes say attorney Dana D’Angelo explained overrides were structured so they automatically took effect unless a town opted out of them.
The first was for accessory apartments. D’Angelo explained the town already has accessory apartment regulations, and the override would be to make them as-of-right so people would get them automatically without having to apply for a special permit or special exception.
She said the second is for temporary healthcare structures, which are temporary structures on people’s property that can be taken away. She said the town currently had nothing about these in its zoning regulations.
She said the third override is for maximum parking spaces, and the town’s zoning regulations already have parking space requirements.
She then explained the Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to opt out of all three overrides, but the public act requires the legislative body for the town to vote on resolutions to opt out of each of the three.
She presented the resolutions to opt out of the overrides and the selectmen voted on each resolution, unanimously approving each of them.
