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BROOKFIELD -- Township trustees Monday approved increasing the pay for firefighters and emergency medical technicians because of concerns about staffing shortages.
Fire Chief Dave Masirovits said the fire department needs to match other area fire departments in what they pay their fireighters and EMTs if Brookfield wants to compete in attracting and retaining personnel.
"We want to offer more pay to help us stand out a little bit. The $13 and $15 per hour rate for firefighters and EMTs is low for the area," he said.
Approved was increasing the hourly wage of part-time firefighters with medical certification as follows: firefighter/ EMT basic from $13 to $15 per hour and firefighter/EMT-paramedic from $15 to $17 per hour.
Trustees also approved allowing Masirovits to hire emergency medical service personnel only to help cover shifts during times of low staffing at an hourly rate $15 per hour for paramedics and $13 an hour for EMTs with no additional benefits.
He said a concern exists when there are sometimes only two people on duty when there should be at least five per shift. He said officials have discussed different ways to try to get more staff.
"This is a problem for many departments," Masirovits said.
He also was approved to purchase EMS safety gear from Blue Line, including pants and coats at a cost not to exceed $2,560 and EMS safety helmets from Heiman Fire Equipment at a cost not to exceed $1,149.
In other business, trustees discussed how $869,000 in American Rescue Plan funds the township has received have been used or will be used. Trustee Chairman Dan Suttles said funds were used to paint the interior of the administration building, including the meeting room.
Plans also are to get a large television screen attached to the wall so that it can be used for showing the meeting agenda as well as for presentations at meetings.
Trustee Shannon Devitz said money is being used for a new sign at the beginning of the road that leads to the administration building that will be two-sided and show information on the screen.
Suttles said the goal is to have generators at the administration building and fire station hall to be a place where residents may come if there are long periods of no power at their homes because of the poor weather or other issues.
"These two buildings would be able to be used as warming centers when there is a natural disaster. We had two bad storms last spring and the township was hit very hard back to back. Some residents did not have power for two weeks," Suttles said.
Trustees also approved sending a letter to attorney Gil Blair, who provides legal service to the township, to respond within seven days if he plans to continue serving in that capacity or if trustees should hire someone else. Suttles said he has not been able to reach Blair about legal matters such as property maintenance issues.
Trustee Mark Ferrara said trustees will wait for a response from Blair before proceeding.