HELP US HELP YOU: VOTE FOR YOUR SAFETY ON SEPTEMBER 12
 
By Ex Chief Bill Renzetti
August 21, 2023
 

Our firehouse is too small for safety.

On Tuesday, September 12, your volunteer fire department urges you to vote to expand our obsolete firehouse, which is too small to comply with national fire safety codes and standards.

Our volunteer firefighters cannot adequately protect your safety working out of today’s cramped, outdated firehouse. The demand for their services has grown dramatically.

They’re responding to almost 250 percent more emergency medical calls than twelve years ago. Fire calls are up 55 percent.

On September 12, there will be a revote on a $17.9-million bond proposition that would pay for renovation and expansion of the department’s firehouse. By a tiny margin, voters did not pass a previous vote on June 20.

Our volunteers give generously of their own time to keep you safe. But our undersized firehouse prevents them from efficiently meeting your safety needs.

Modern fire apparatus is far too large to fit into our current firehouse, which was last expanded some 33 years ago. Today’s firetrucks are 29 percent larger than back then!

The cost is affordable. Fire and EMS taxes make up less than 7.5 percent of your property tax bill. This bond adds less than one dollar a day to an average homeowner’s bill – and it will still be lower than nearby districts such as Coram, Brookhaven/Shirley, Middle Island, and North Patchogue.

Polls are open between 12:00 pm and 9:00 pm on Tuesday, September 12 at the firehouse at 301 Main Street.

Help us help you. Vote to protect our safety on September 12!