Back under fire in Gordon Heights
Second dissolution petition aims to create fire protection district
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Mel Robinson, a resident of Gordon Heights since 1942, was the first resident to sign the new petition to dissolve the Gordon Heights Fire District.
In addition to the petition calling for the dissolution of the district, residents are simultaneously collecting signatures requesting the town create a fire protection district. This would allow the town to take over the district's fire service or put the service out to bid for other departments in the event the Gordon Heights Fire District is abolished.
The signature drive, the third of its kind since 1986, comes less than two years after another petition was ruled insufficient by the Brookhaven Town law department. In October 2006, attorneys from the town's law department, which was charged with reviewing the petition's validity in accordance with state guidelines, decided the 700-plus collection of signatures was inconsistent with state election law.
The decision prevented the dissolution issue from appearing before the Town Board for a public hearing.
In order to bring the petition before the town again, the residents must collect the signatures of homeowners who represent 50 percent of the assessed value of residential properties in the fire district, according to attorney Paul Sabatino of Huntington, who was retained by the residents to handle the dissolution application. When first approached by the residents, Mr. Sabatino said he was astonished by the "numbers involved."
Homeowners of the fire district pay an average of $1,300 in fire taxes, which is more than four times what homeowners in surrounding districts pay.
"This is one of the worst economic injustices I've seen in 20 years of government," said Mr. Sabatino, who served most recently as the Deputy County Executive of Suffolk County under Steve Levy.
Rosalie Hanson, a 21-year resident of the district, said residents are in the midst of a 16-month public outreach campaign, which has included educating residents about their fire taxes at regular Town Board meetings. Ms. Hanson noted New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's audit of the district released this past February cited more than $25,000 of potentially unnecessary costs over a 14-month stretch in 2006 and 2007. Many of these expenses, such as spending $13,000 for an annual training conference fire department members attend in Baltimore, could be trimmed back to allow more of a break for taxpayers, Ms. Hanson said.
"We should be a mom-and-pop firehouse," Ms. Hanson said. "We need a budget to reflect what the community can afford."
In an interview Tuesday at the firehouse, James Kelly, chairman of the district's board of commissioners, said he would rather focus on all of the good things the fire department has to offer the community as opposed to dredge up what many in the community call old news.
"We're not focusing on the petition," Mr. Kelly said. "We're continuing to focus on service."
Mr. Kelly said the district's high fire taxes can be attributed to the community's lack of commercial properties, something that helps keep homeowner's fire taxes down in the surrounding communities. In an effort to keep costs down, Mr. Kelly said his board was able to shave $54,000 off the budget this year and has agreed to rent space for a cell phone tower, which will bring additional revenue to the district.
Fire Chief Erton Rudder said that many of the expenses incurred by the district are because of state and federal mandates enforced to bring districts up to standard in both equipment and training.
Mr. Rudder said he believes most residents in the district are happy with their fire service.
"We're not going anywhere," Mr. Rudder said.
Fourth District Councilwoman Connie Kepert, who represents the Gordon Heights community, is on vacation this week and was unavailable for comment.
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