By Ben Rodgers
Editor

SUAMICO – A presentation on staffing recommendations for the Suamico Fire Department sparked interest from the village board at its Monday, July 1, meeting.

A committee, which was formed and met four times at the request of the village board, came up with two recommendations that would add a full-time chief to the department.

“In our first few months of having a full-time firefighter here it has become more apparent that the need for consistent leadership during the day is needed,” said Chris Gabryszek, assistant chief. “There are day-to-day questions that consistently need to be handled every day.”

A full-time firefighter was added during the last budget cycle and the possibility of the addition of a chief was also discussed, but at the 11th hour of the budget process.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it doesn’t make sense to add a full-time firefighter without a full-time chief,” said Trustee Michelle Eckert. “I think it needs to be first. It needs to be done during the next budget cycle.”

The committee reviewed other fire departments in the area, including Bellevue, Ledgeview, De Pere and Howard.

In his presentation, Gabryszek made a few assumptions regarding staffing levels, the first was the total cost of a full-time firefighter would be $60,000 annually, $45,000 in wages and $15,000 in benefits.

His cost estimate for a full-time chief was $90,000 for total compensation.

The committee also reviewed payroll and how much the department pays each staff member for specific services, like fire calls and fire inspections.

Given these figures, Gabryszek suggested two options, the first would be two additional full-time firefighters and one full-time chief at a cost of $160,000.

The second option would be one additional full-time firefighter and one full-time chief at a cost of $100,000.

Both of these options met minimal service requirements for an engine to be deployed to the scene of a fire.

Gabryszek said an ideal situation would be three-full time firefighters and one full-time chief at a cost of $220,000.

“It was important for us to give you an ideal state, where we feel this department should be at some point in the future,” he said. “There is no timeline on this, but based on our current call volume and growth we’re looking at probably five to seven years for this model.”

Gabryszek also suggested an updated wage scale, the first change to what firefighters are paid per call in four years.

The proposed changes would increase the pay per firefighter per hour on a call, based on experience.

A probationary or entry-level firefighter would stay at $10 an hour, a state-certified firefighter would increase to $12 per hour, a state certified engineer or inspector would increase to $13 an hour, a lieutenant would increase to $15 an hour, a captain would go up to $19 an hour and assistant chiefs would increase to $21 an hour.

“This needs to be done,” said Trustee Dan Roddan. “It hasn’t been done, we haven’t given you guys the tools you need in this department like we should.”

Gabryszek said departments across the region are facing staffing issues and pay issues, and firefighters need to strike a work-life balance that provides value to them.

“We have not had a raise in four years, people keep track of that and it’s a competitive market,” he said. “I think we’ve been very fortunate to have Suamico residents on our fire department, I can’t say that’s going to be the case going forward.”

Gabryszek requested the pay scale be reviewed on an annual basis.

Board members were in agreement on the changes, but no motions were made and staff was directed to find at least an additional $110,000 in the budget, $100,000 for the full-time staffing and $10,000 for the raises.

“As a point of reference, our total levy increase for the 2019 budegt was $94,000 for everything, that’s what you funded,” said Jessica Legois, director of administrative services.