A proposal from a Goffstown fire and EMS planning committee recommends adding 10 firefighter/ EMT personnel to the fire department, which would double the current full-time staff.

The new positions would come at a cost of $571,000 in their first year of employment, planning committee co-chairman Felix Pelchat told selectmen.

elchat presented selectmen with the interim report of the 24/7 Fire and EMS Committee at the board’s meeting of Nov. 27.

The additional firefighters would allow the department to operate at core staffing of five per shift over the course of four shifts, according to the report. The net cost of the recommendation, using 2007 budget offsets, totals about $230,000 according to a report from the committee.

The committee’s recommendation would cause the tax bill to rise 18.4 cents per $1,000 assessed value, an annual increase of $46 on a $250,000 home.

The plan calls for some firefighters to also serve as emergency medical technicians, allowing the town to cut the two EMT positions it currently maintains at night, Pelchat said.

Although the committee’s recommendations would double the size of the full-time force, Pelchat said the department would still have to maintain a call force.

“No matter what the town decides to do, we need a call force. You can’t rely on five guys to handle all the calls that come into the station,” Pelchat said.

Selectman John Caprio asked why the committee’s recommendations were necessary at this time, when in the past the town was able to meet firefighting requirements with a combination of on-call and full-time firefighters.

“We’ve been seeing a problem with people not committed to training or to the schedule” of fulfilling call force requirements, Pelchat said.

Plett agreed, adding the difficulties in meeting around-theclock coverage requirements are nothing new.

“This problem has been going on for years. We’ve really not been able to meet 24/7 requirements with a call force,” Plett said.

The fire department committee was formed in response to a warrant article passed at the March 2005 Town Meeting.

The petitioned article, which passed 1,506-761, directed the board of selectmen “to prepare and present a plan proposing 24- hour fire and EMS staffing of at least one fire station seven days a week.”

The committee addressed a number of topics besides personnel in their report. They also considered whether to privatize the town’s EMS service, how to acquire additional revenue sources and staff development ideas.

The report comes out against privatizing EMS services, saying EMS services are self-sustaining because revenues offset costs.

“The committee recommends we provide at least one paramedic per shift and to increase the training of other shift personnel which will raise the classification of such fees, thus providing additional revenue,” the report said.

The report also recommends imposing fees for ambulance and nonemergency transfers, false alarms and other nuisance calls.

Regarding staff development, the report suggests a new chief be hired based partly on the ability to integrate full-time staff with call personnel, and that the chief actively recruit such employees.

Selectmen Chairman Barbara Griffin said the committee had done a good job of carrying out its study, and said selectmen would discuss the recommendations after further review.

Pelchat said the committee should remain assembled until voters weigh in on a warrant article at the 2007 Town Meeting.