WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Prudential Committee on Wednesday discussed the need for a policy for all call-volunteer firefighters who reach the state's mandatory retirement age.

 

And the panel talked about how the Fire Department can continue to utilize the experience of members who have reached the age of 65.

 

The state's retirement age first came up in the context of Chief Craig Pedercini, who had asked the Prudential Committee to start the process of a home-rule petition to the Legislature to receive an exemption for the district when he has his 65th birthday next year.

 

The committee declined to take that route and instead is in the opening stages of a search process for the department's next chief, a task being coordinated by the Prudential Committee's Personnel subcommittee.

 

That subcommittee also has been asked to draft a policy for the department that reflects the state retirement age.

 

Prudential Committee member Joe Beverly, who serves on the subcommittee, told his colleagues that the panel had lengthy conversations on what to do about firefighters who reach age 65.

 

"A lot of [subcommittee] members felt it was beneficial to have members in other roles within the fire district [after 65]," Beverly said.

 

"Our biggest problem going forward is we have no policies or procedures in place, and we need them. We should have language from this committee saying whether we're going to allow members to stay on or not."

 

Beverly said it is unfair to leave firefighters who are over age 65 in "limbo" as they technically remain on the roster. He also said that, speaking for himself, he thought it was unfair that the law "casts aside" veterans after they reach a certain age.

 

"They're assets to the department, and we hate to see them go," Beverly said. "We need to have a policy to say we can retain these people in a different capacity.

 

"I think there's another role here for those members. … They're no longer allowed to be paid. They'd be volunteers. But without language, we're kind of spinning our wheels right now."

 

Lindsay Neathawk agreed, saying the veteran firefighters have "a wealth of knowledge" that could be shared with newer members of the department.

 

Pedercini said the department does not have much choice about keeping firefighters over age 65 from responding to most emergencies.

 

"Any one of us can have a heart attack, pull a muscle, break a leg, but the risk is greater, as the state figures it, because at that age … " Pedercini said. "I don't agree with the number, but that's the number we have to work with.

 

"I don't think they should be on car accidents, medical calls, any calls the Fire Department responds to. When I hit that age, I'm in the same boat."

 

Both Beverly and Prudential Committee Chair David Moresi mentioned that there are liability issues for the district if firefighters past the age of 65 are involved in responding to emergency calls.

 

Ryan Houseman, a lieutenant in the department who participated in Wednesday's meeting from the floor, suggested that there still are roles for trained, experienced retirees. Houseman noted a lot of the district's calls are for activated alarms where there is no sign of a fire and suggested that firefighters who have passed the retirement age could handle those calls.

 

The Prudential Committee discussed the need to bring in a human resources consultant to review any policy that is drafted by the subcommittee. It also has discussed getting a professional to review a job description for the next chief that the subcommittee is charged with developing.

 

The committee voted unanimously to authorize Moresi to send a scoping letter to three qualified HR firms to get estimates for that consultation.

 

The committee did get some positive news on the Main Street station building project.

 

Bruce Decoteau, the district's building consultant, reported that construction manager Consigli had begun reviewing bids for some of the biggest line items in the project, including concrete and steel, and that the bids were in line with the latest estimates the district had on hand.

 

"I'm cautiously optimistic going forward financially," Decoteau told the Prudential Committee.