The village and town are evaluating the potential of merging the two fire departments to become one. Mayor Craig Miller, a member of the Brocton Fire Department, spoke on the matter following a recent meeting of the Village Board.

Donning a Brocton Fire Rescue sweatshirt, Miller explained the talks as of now are still very early in the process. For a merger to be approved, three groups would need to all be onboard — the Brocton Village Board, the Portland Town Board, and the Commissioners that govern the Portland Fire Department.

Dave Hazelton, an Emergency Medical Technician and former member of the Brocton Village Board, will be involved in the discussions to facilitate the process. Hazelton said of a potential merger, “It seems to be the popular thing to do.”

Town of Portland Supervisor Rich Lewis will meet with the Portland Fire Commissioners March 10 to discuss the possibility of a merger. The Village of Brocton is eager to see where those conversations lead. Miller hopes to schedule a meeting with Lewis and the Commissioners with other members of the Boards in attendance to discuss the matter further at a later date.

The state of the Brocton Fire Hall is among several reasons to consider a merger with Portland.

The idea of merging Brocton and Portland Fire Departments came up in the past, but did not gain much traction. In the years since, the two municipalities have begun to share many key services. Among them, Brocton and Portland share a Highway Superintendent, Ken Becker. The two communities also recently formed the Brocton-Portland Water System as they jointly separated from CBI to handle water service and billing matters together.

Membership is a driving force behind the idea of merging the two departments. Hazelton said, “The big concern for all of us is manpower. There doesn’t seem to be any.”

Fire departments across the state are struggling to recruit and maintain members, and even those who are a part of the department do not always have the ability to respond frequently. Combining the two departments would make for a much healthier number of members on the roster.

Another reason that a merger makes sense — especially for Brocton — is the condition of the current fire hall in Brocton. CPL: Architecture-Engineering-Planning conducted an engineering report on the Brocton Fire Hall that highlighted the need for significant improvements. The Board attempted to secure grant funding to make the necessary upgrades to the building, with the help of Municipal Solutions, but the Village’s proposal was not selected.

If the two departments merge, they could evaluate the capabilities of the current Portland facilities, but another option is to seek grant funding for a new location. Regarding membership, the municipalities do not want to risk upsetting the dedicated members of each department that they do have by discussing a merger.

Equipment will also be a topic of discussion in any potential merger. The recent Brocton Village Board meeting had plenty of equipment discussion, as two new trucks were purchased and a recently purchased truck was just received.

A new Chevrolet Silverado 5500 rescue truck was purchased for the Brocton Fire Department for approximately $92,000 with the majority coming from the Fire Department’s Equipment Reserve account, along with a transfer of $30,000 from the Village’s NYCLASS account to cover the remaining balance.

Later in the meeting, Lewis was approved for the purchase of a 2025 Ram truck to replace the existing vehicle in use at the Water and Sewer Treatment Plant. The existing vehicle and attached plow will be traded in for $33,000, which is even higher than it was purchased for in 2019, not including the cost of the attached plow. Lewis provided the Board with four quotes and had the funds available in his budget for the purchase. The cost after the trade-in credit is $11,402, not including the cost of a plow to be added at a later date.

The Village also received its newly purchased service vehicle for the Electric Department after Board approval in November. The Village exhausted the remaining $27,503.69 of ARPA funds at its disposal with the purchase of the vehicle. The remaining balance of $16,111.65 came from the Electric Department reserve account.

Trustee Kari Doino joked that she felt like Oprah Winfrey in the famous talk show episode where everyone in the audience received a new vehicle. Miller also joked, “Does anybody else need a truck while we’re at it?”

Also of note, security cameras were recently installed at the Brocton Fire Hall. The Electric Department assisted with the installation and the Water and Sewer Department provided wire for the system.