Randolph and Braintree Disagree on Fire Coverage
By M. D. Drysdale

Randolph and Braintree negotiators seemed to be moving toward a resolution of a longstanding dispute on the cost of fire services, but the latest proposal hit a snag Monday night at the Randolph selectboard meeting.

Randolph bills Braintree for fire services, because Braintree doesn't have a fire department. Randolph bills at the same rate that its own citizens are paying for fire protection from its three fire departments.

Braintree selectboard members, however, note that Braintree attracts fewer fire calls than Randolph, and they believe that the town should pay some lesser figure. At the last Braintree Town Meeting, the selectmen recommended that the town pay 80% on the grand list, compared to what was billed by Randolph residents.

The matter has been under occasional discussion since that time, and Monday night Randolph board chair Jim Hutchinson ran his own suggestion past his board.

He suggested that Braintree be billed at 100% of the Randolph's rate for the Village fire department but only at 80% of the rate for the East Randolph and Randolph Center departments, since they are much farther from Braintree and seldom respond to fires there.

This method would result in Braintree paying 88% of the Randolph bill, he noted.

Next year, he said, Braintree could be billed 94%, and the year after that, 100%.

"Bad idea," responded Al Floyd, former selectman and Randolph Center Fire Chief. The graduating scale was tried once without success, he claimed.

Further, he bristled at the idea of the 80% charge.

"East Randolph and Randolph Center are not 80% of a fire department," he declared. Joe Voci and Dawn Butterfield also expressed disagreement. So did Ken Goss, one of the newest selectmen.

"For 18 years we have been subsidizing Braintree. No more!" he exclaimed.

Hutchinson and Selectman Larry Townsend, however, reminded the others that in a negotiating situation, nobody gets 100% of what they want.

"We should allow ourselves to listen," Townsend said. "This is a negotiation. It's not pretty."

The actual difference between the 100% payment and the 88% payment is about $4000-$5000, Hutchinson said. He told the board that at its next meeting, it had to agree on a message to send back to the Braintree board for the next negotiating session.