Click here to subscribe today or Login.
LARKSVILLE — Borough taxpayers who vote will have a chance to decide the future of paid firefighters in the borough come November.
Council unanimously voted Tuesday to place a referendum on the ballot for the November election that would ask Larksville residents if they would accept a tax increase in order to keep the department’s three full-time drivers.
The ability to maintain full-time Larksville firefighters has been a hot topic since borough solicitor Larry Moran sent out a letter Aug. 31 explaining the borough’s intentions to explore cost-savings options, such as eliminating full-time unionized positions.
The information was quickly passed around social media, leading to continued debates from residents — which ultimately amounted to an outdoor protest before Tuesday’s council meeting at the municipal building.
“We didn’t know there was a problem until approximately two weeks ago,” council vice chair Jack Pekarovsky explained during the session — which was live streamed to the public on Facebook — adding that council had ongoing contract negotiations on at least four occasions since the letter was released and plans for another before the end of October. Arbitration is set to begin Oct. 23.
“It was the last negotiation meeting when they declined our offer. We told them it was our final offer, it’s what we thought we could afford, it was what we felt was fair and at that point they cut off negotiations,” he continued.
The disputed positions include those of union steward John Fronzoni, chief engineer Jeff Williams and engineer Zack Zdancewicz, who have been at the job for 32, 20 and five years, respectively.
While their fate is yet unknown after the current contract ends Dec. 31 roughly, 11 part-time and five volunteer firefighter positions would still serve the community and surrounding areas.
About 30 individuals came to the protest, organized by Jamie Miller, the wife of a volunteer fireman. She said many part-time firefighters have another job they rely on as a primary source of income, which could lead to a lack of coverage when needed.
“That’s not an option that I even want them to consider,” she said. “It’s putting lives in danger. We’re not going to have the coverage like we normally do. We’re not going to have the piece of mind that we do now under those circumstances.”
Shortly after applause erupted from the crowd as Fronzoni, Williams and Zdancewicz appeared. After thanking the crowd for their support, Fronzoni stopped to discuss his view of the situation as well as two major points of debate.
He wanted to dispel rumors that the union is not attempting to meet council’s demands on annual pay increases and healthcare premiums.
“We’ve been contributing to our healthcare since 2008. We had asked Pekarovsky at the past meeting which he attended on the 6th of August what the borough was actually looking for and we agreed to meet them at the percentage that they requested,” he said.
Aside from Larksville, the fire department also provides services to Courtdale, Pringle and recently entered into a monetary agreement to cover portions of Plymouth Township. He said it would be difficult to continue serving Larksville, let alone other municipalities, without full-time firefighters.
“We make this our lifelong goal to be here and to ensure the best possible service we could provide,” he continued.
During the council meeting Pekarovsky explained the borough is facing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing a lack of incoming property tax revenue from distressed households as a primary cause.
“Every borough of this size in northeastern Pennsylvania survives on a combination of part-time, volunteer and shared service agreements,” Moran added. “In my experience Larksville is a unicorn.”