HEATH — Voters are being asked to support petitioning the Legislature to allow Fire Department members to continue their work, despite being past the age of 65, at a special Town Meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The meeting will commence at 6:30 p.m. at the Jacobs Road Municipal Center at 18 Jacobs Road to vote on the six articles on the warrant, ranging from legislation and purchases for the Fire Department to end-of-year finance transfers.
Articles 2 and 3 ask voters to petition the state for special legislation allowing Fire Chief Nick Anzuoni (67) and volunteer firefighter Will Emmet (68) to continue working with the department despite being past the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Under Massachusetts General Law, firefighters in paid departments must retire from fire suppression duties at the age of 65; however, municipalities can petition the state Legislature to allow firefighters to continue until the age of 70. While Heath Fire is a volunteer department, the chief does receive a small stipend, triggering the state law for the entire department.
“You have to do this for every individual that’s going to hit 65,” Town Coordinator Hilma Sumner said during a Selectboard review of the warrant last month.
Selectboard members said it was frustrating that the town had to seek legislation for each individual member rather than the department as a whole, and that even with the legislation, firefighters must retire at the age of 70, regardless of their health. The board said it may be worth reaching out to state legislators to see if the process can be changed in the future, but in the meantime, they need to request town meeting approval for the legislation allowing Anzouni and Emmet to continue with the department for a few more years.
“You can have someone at age 75 who is still going strong,” Sumner said.
“I’ve got less than two years,” Emmet joked.
Voters also will be asked to approve setting aside $10,000 from free cash for the future purchase of a new vehicle for the fire chief.
“It’s really in rough shape and there’s a vehicle in Colrain that we can purchase,” Selectboard Chair Robyn Provost-Carlson said of the chief’s vehicle.
Other articles include:
- Article 6, to re-approve zoning bylaw amendments approved by Town Meeting last spring, in order to correct procedural errors and get the amendments approved by the state attorney general. Amendments seek to replace references to roads, private ways, and public ways throughout the bylaws with the word “street.”
- Article 3, to transfer $40,000 from the school/town building improvement stabilization account to a new Jacobs Road Municipal Center Roof Repair Account.
- Article 4, to transfer $2,871 from an IT stabilization account to an IT equipment upgrade account.
The full warrant can be reviewed at the town offices or on the town website.
