[RP TownTalk] Tonight's News.

[Roland Walker]

> Is the phase out to be relied on or is it just another plan?
>
> And what will it be replaced by?

I guess the answers are buried in all the detail below.  Since the
county has already spent $350,000 on the consolidation project I would
say it is not just another a plan.

As to what the replacement is -- if you mean what replaces the
firehouse -- two firehouses will be consolidated together.  Our
firehouse will be consolidated into a larger firehouse in Riverdale
Heights, on Roanoke Ave.

Some members of the firehouse have indicated that they will "dig in"
and "never leave".  I don't know how that's supposed to work, though I
do see those comments as overdramatic and typically unprofessional.

Currently the town rents the building to the Riverdale Fire Department
for $1/year, and gives them a grant of $10,000/year.  They are not a
part of the town government.

Certainly we are under no obligation to continue those subsidies once
the consolidated firehouse is in place.  I even question why we
subsidize them currently, as the great majority of their calls are for
mutual aid in other communities, not for service within Riverdale
Park.

R

On 9/27/07, Lisa Grob <lisagrob at verizon.net> wrote:
> Is the phase out to be relied on or is it just another plan?
>
> And what will it be replaced by?
>
> Lisa
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towntalk-bounces at riverdale-park.org
> [mailto:towntalk-bounces at riverdale-park.org] On Behalf Of Roland Walker
> Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:38 PM
> To: TownTalk
> Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Tonight's News.
>
> [ sarah said]
> > volunteers.  A few years ago, this was a definite priority for the
> > county; I'm not sure what has happened in the interim.
>
> The county has a long-standing plan to phase out the Riverdale Fire
> Department as part of a consolidation that is laid out in the Capital
> Improvement Program (CIP).  If you look at a chapter of the Prince
> George's County Master Plan here
>
>    http://www.mncppc.org/cpd/PDFs/GenPlan/IVGenPlan.pdf
>
> at page 16 (which is page 70 of the master document) there is a table
> showing that the Riverdale Fire Department will be phased out in 2009.
>
> If you look at the Capital Improvement Plan here
>
>
> http://www.goprincegeorgescounty.com/Government/AgencyIndex/OMB/Approved_Bud
> get_FY2007/CIPpdfs/Project%20Summary/FireDepartment.pdf
>
> on page 22, which is page 339 of the master document, you can read
> that the expansion of the Riverdale Heights fire station on Roanoke is
> slated to be completed in December of 2007, and that it is currently
> 72% completed.  The purpose of this project (cost: $350,000) is to
> provide the additional bays that will be required when the Riverdale
> Fire Department is merged into that location.
>
> There will be more information in the Public Safety Master Plan,
> unfortunately not available in electronic form, but obtainable in
> paper form here
>
>    http://www.mncppc.org/html/pubs.htm
>
> So my impression is that the consolidation of the Riverdale Park fire
> station is still very much a priority of the county, and that the
> project is moving along.
>
> R
>
> On 9/26/07, Sarah Wayland <sarah.wayland at gmail.com> wrote:
> > For years I've kept my mouth shut about the fire department, but I can
> > no longer continue to do so in good faith.
> >
> > Incidents like this make me think we need to push the county to move
> > quickly towards making our firefighters professionals, rather than
> > volunteers. A few years ago, this was a definite priority for the
> > county; I'm not sure what has happened in the interim.
> >
> > There have been countless incidents (though none this serious) where
> > I've heard of our firefighters behaving in an unprofessional manner.*
> > As a resident of the town, I want to be able to count on firefighters
> > (who also provide ambulance service) to behave in a professional way.
> > Right now, I do not feel that I can count on this.
> >
> > How can we push our county to insure that we are served by
> > firefighters and EMTs who take their duties seriously? Our
> > firefighters in the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department are not the
> > same caliber of people we honored after 9/11, and for us to continue
> > to pretend they are only discredits the honorable men and women who
> > *do* take their job seriously.
> >
> > Just my opinion.
> >
> > -Sarah Wayland
> >
> > * Recently a friend needed ambulance service to take him to the
> > hospital (he is terminally ill.) The EMTs were making *jokes* about
> > his physical condition (which was quite dire) right in front of him,
> > as if he couldn't hear them, or perhaps didn't have feelings. I was
> > furious when I heard about this. Now, after this story of the teenage
> > boy, I can no longer keep quiet.
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> >
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