BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Two career firefighters are slated to retire in the next year, raising concerns among village trustees that overtime expenses could rise sharply within the department.

To combat the potential added expenses, Trustee Ken McGowan and Deputy Mayor Chad Simpson have suggested the village consider hiring before the retirements occur.

Both McGowan and Simpson are liaisons to the fire department for the village board.

During the September board meeting McGowan suggested trustees begin thinking "progressively" and not reactively to the pending retirements.

“Inspections are up. Permits are up. You’re doing that with nine staff,” McGowan said.

Simpson called the pending retirements "a huge setback" that could prove costly for the village.

While the department is busier than ever, Hardy said he is very limited with the number of code enforcement officers that can be on the road.

“I can only have one guy on the road doing the code side of things. That’s it. That’s all I have for manpower,” Hardy said.

Hardy said the department also handles fire and rescue calls, spreading thin the already limited staff.

With nine firefighters and calls rising, Hardy said it's an increasingly difficult task.

Currently, the code enforcement office is handling 700 complaints, he said.

On top of that, Hardy said the fire department just reached 1,600 total emergency responses.

That simply isn't sustainable with the way things currently sit, he said.

Onboarding and training before the retirements take place was one suggestion to curb the effects, which was a topic of conversation at a recent meeting, Hardy said.

“I would rather spend a few bucks earlier than spending all summer with all the overtime. We really need to be progressive and spend a little money earlier than a lot of money later because at this time next year we could be down by two firefighters," McGowan said.

Hardy said he didn't know how things would play out next year with overtime expenses but commented that costs could rise sharply if replacements are not found.

Training was also a concern, with a significant amount required before fire fighters can be in service.

“They’re not available for service right away. So, there’s just decisions coming that need to be made and how we’re going to do that. We can’t wait for the last minute,” Simpson said.

McGowan commented further, saying the next fiscal year budget for the village was going to be "a very difficult balancing act" as costs continue to rise.

While the village will seek to keep taxes as low as possible, McGowan said village residents may need to pay higher taxes if they wish to keep all services as they are now.

In particular, McGowan pointed towards the Department of Public Works and cleanup days, along with trash service, as a rising cost that could heavily impact the budget next year.

Rates set by the Development Authority of the North Country are set to rise next year, which in turn forces the county to raise rates as well. That expense eventually makes its way down to taxpayers who are forced to foot the bill, McGowan said.

“I know I mentioned the fire department, and I should mention everybody. I mentioned Aaron and his staff are busy. The PD is busy. The DPW , they’re down staff and we’re having them do stuff that we used to do with 10 and 15 more people. We have our administration and our staff and they’re swamped, and all the secretaries are swamped,” he said.

McGowan said it may come to residents picking and choosing what services they desire if expenses are not cut or taxes are not raised.

“I’m sure we all hear, ‘Our taxes are too high, our taxes are too high.’ This is what it costs. It costs money to provide a service. So, just complaining that our taxes are too high isn’t the answer. These are the services we provide. It is what it is, and they’re not going to go down,” McGowan said.

McGowan pointed to the village's efforts to maintain a lower tax levy by utilizing $150,000 of the Joint Recreation Department's fund balance to stay below the tax cap.

Currently, trustees say the village will not be able to do that again to stay below the tax cap.

I want the residents to know if we want to keep our services the same, we need to start thinking, do we want these services? I just wanted to put that out there," McGowan said.