It was short on numbers and long on ideas, but Monday's meeting between the Jamestown City Council and the labor union representing the city's firefighters was characterized as productive by both sides.
Members of the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association Local 1772 presented council members with a list of 15 initiatives, the implementation of which union members say could save the city - and its taxpayers - money.
But there were no hard-and-fast numbers associated with the list, something City Councilman Kim Ecklund, R-Ward 2, said is ''not what we were here for.''
''This wasn't about dollars and cents,'' Mrs. Ecklund said. ''This was simply a way for us to exchange ideas. We were trying to have an open dialogue about cost-saving ideas and that's exactly what has taken place here.''
Tops on the list presented by Local 1772 leadership was the creation of a fire department-based emergency medical transport service - an option city administrators are already in the process of exploring as they consider ways in which such services are made available to citizens. City administrators are also in talks with WCA Services Corp., the organization that provides ALSTAR EMS service in Jamestown.
Local 1772 members also suggested that the city allow union members to perform maintenance and repair-related work on department equipment and vehicles.
Ryan Roush, the union's president, said union members already do some such work, but said there may be additional work that can be performed by firefighters.
Firefighter Paul Volpe, a member of the Local 1772 executive board, suggested that the city take the opportunity afforded to it by the retirement of its deputy fire chief and the pending retirement of its police chief and director of public safety and eliminate the fire department's administrative battalion chief position.
Local 1772 leadership also suggested that the city:
create a task force that would seek grant money to help pay for things such as equipment and station renovation;
''go green'' with all its fire stations by using wind and solar power to reduce utility costs and by seeking grants to help cover the costs of upgrades;
make the department's five battalion chiefs choose vacation on the same schedule as firefighters, a measure that Roush said could save up to $50,000;
increase the fee currently charged for ''excessive use of services'';
eliminate ''unnecessary city vehicles'' by requiring a pooling of vehicles to be used by all departments through a sharing arrangement;
create a citywide equipment purchase plan that allows for the replacement of vehicles every year or every two years;
institute a ban on unnecessary out-of-city travel using city-owned vehicles;
send city employees to safe driving school in an attempt to reduce insurance costs;
reduce mileage reimbursement;
cut utility bills by reducing usage and asking the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to perform an energy audit of city fire stations
rent all parking places at City Hall;
charge more for the boarding up of houses; and
ask employees in each department to suggest cost-saving ideas.
''I definitely think (the meeting) was productive,'' Roush said. ''We haven't had a whole lot of sit-down time with the City Council and the mayor all in one spot. We just wanted to open a dialogue. Some of our ideas are long-term and will need some planning, others could be implemented tomorrow. As for future meetings, I think we're more than happy to do that.''
Roush said Local 1772 leadership will work to craft ''some specifics'' in terms of what a city-run emergency medical transport service could look like.
''That's really the big-ticket item that could be implemented in the near future,'' he said. ''We'll be looking at how that system could be implemented and dovetailed with how we operate today.''
City Councilman Vince DeJoy, D-Ward 4 and the Finance Committee chairman, said he thought the meeting went ''very well.''
''We got some good issues on the table and had a good discussion,'' he said. ''I think the list they presented is a good one and provides us with a launching point for discussion. Some things have been done; others are definitely worth exploring. A dialogue is open now and nothing but good things can come of that.''
DeJoy also said he's interested to hear more on how city-run emergency transport service could work.
''That's one of the most important things we'll be exploring,'' he said. ''The firefighters are going to have to come up with a proposed structure for a fire department-based EMS service, give us an idea of what is needed in terms of equipment and show us how that service can be operated in a cost-effective way.''
For his part, City Councilman Mike Taylor, D-Ward 3 and the Public Safety Committee chairman, said he was pleased with the meeting.
''The concerns at both ends are pretty much the same,'' Taylor said. ''I think the union does understand the concerns of the taxpayers and the financial peril both the taxpayers and the city are in. There is a real effort being made to solve some problems the city is facing. Everyone is working together. We all realize we're living in hard times.''
