The Oxford Fire Department’s request for relief from its extremely high water bills garnered no sympathy from the Oxford Village Council last week.
“I don’t think we ought to cut them any slack at all,” said Councilman George DelVigna. “(The fire chief) ought to be more fiscally responsible for the water he’s using.”
In a Feb. 13 memo to council, Fire Chief Jack LeRoy asked if officials “might be willing to provide any relief from the cost of lawn watering” at the main station at N. Washington and Church streets.
According to the chief, during the “three heaviest months of watering” last year (June, July and August), the water bills totalled $2882.75, with the highest bill being July at $1,543.75. During the 2003 summer watering season, the fire department used:
• 36,000 gallons in June
• 477,000 gallons in July
• 233,000 gallons in August
• 183,000 gallons in September
• 70,000 gallons in October.
“It does not surprise me their water bills were what they were,” said village President Steve Allen, noting the department used a total of 999,000 gallons over a five-month period.
LeRoy told this reporter the reason so much water was used on the station’s approximately one acre of grass was because it was “new sod.” “It was all fresh sod put down that previous fall (2002). It was put down late in the year, so it never got any watering in the fall. It just laid dormant all winter. When spring came, it had to be watered in order to take root.”
“We did what was recommended to get the new grass to take root,” the chief explained. He was told this by the landscaping company who put the sod in.
“We watered it according to what was recommended, the amount of water needed to make it take root,” said LeRoy, noting it was also a “dry summer.”
However, Councilman Dave Bailey offered a possible “psychological” explanation for the fire department’s high water usage.
“I think firefighters actually like to see water flow,” he said. “That’s a good thing as far as they’re concerned. So, they may actually water more than is strictly necessary. I’ve never been a firefighter, but I suspect if I was, I’d like to see water flowing and I wouldn’t like to see fire very much.”
For relief from the high bills, LeRoy suggested two options – 1) Hook up the lawn sprinkling system to the station’s truck/tanker filling system (water which the village doesn’t charge for) as opposed to its current connection to the station’s domestic water system, which is metered and includes bathroom and kitchen use; 2) Charge a flat rate for water usage as is done with the sewer bills.
Council wasn’t receptive to either option. DelVigna was upset with the fire department’s lack of “fiscal restraint.”
“I don’t think the fire (department) took any fiscal responsibility in what they were doing,” he said. “We all have to look out for our budgets. Jack (LeRoy) has one and he wasn’t looking out for it. He figured, ‘Well, the village and township will cut me some slack.’ I’m saying no.” Bailey expressed agreement with DelVigna.
“There’s not a whole lot of restraint going on (at the fire station.),” said Allen, “but there’s room for the village to do something.”
Councilwoman Renee Donovan suggested the department “revamp” the landscaping at Station #1 to decrease the amount of grass that has to be watered.
She suggested putting in trees, shrubs, mulch, rocks and gravel, while leaving “islands” or “patches” of grass.
“For crying out loud, we live in a gravel pit, let’s take advantage of it,” Donovan said.
Council agreed the issue should be addressed by the Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission and voted 4-0 to bring it to that level.
In response to the council’s criticism, LeRoy said, “If they don’t want their buildings to look nice, just tell me. I’ll shut the sprinkler system off and we’ll let Mother Nature take its course and let it go brown.”
As for Donovan’s suggestion of relandscaping using alternatives to grass, LeRoy said, “We haven’t got that kind of money in the budget.”
“There was more landscaping originally planned, but it was scaled back because of cost cutbacks during the construction,” the chief noted.
As for this summer’s water consumption, LeRoy said, “I don’t anticipate having to water as much this year. . .Depending on how wet the season is, we might get by on watering every other day.”
The chief said the department will “do the best we can to cut down on water consumption, but if worst comes to worst, we may just shut the sprinklers off and let Mother Nature take its course.”
LeRoy did express his support for drilling a private well to supply water to the station’s sprinkler system.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “We’ve already got a guy that’s willing to do the work.”
Although a private well cannot legally be drilled in the village due to contamination issues and regulations, LeRoy noted one can be drilled in the township.
Approximately 30 feet of the main station’s property is located within the unincorporated township’s boundaries, according to township Supervisor Bill Dunn.
Dunn said he will bring the issue of drilling a well for the main station before the OPFEC board.