JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Berlin Fire Company and EMS officials on Monday provide a quarterly financial update to the Town Council. The council voted 3-1 to approve a new, $605,000 annual funding package for fire and EMS.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Oct. 25, 2018) The Berlin Town Council approved a $605,000 contract for services with the Berlin Fire Company and Berlin EMS on Monday, as Councilman Thom Gulyas, the lone dissenter in the 3-1 vote, sternly outlined the reasons for his “no” vote.

The contract represents a significant increase in the town’s funding for fire and EMS. From fiscal years 2015-2017, the town contributed $1.2 million, for an average of $400,000 per year, according to a Matrix Consulting Group funding study.

Under the new agreement, quarterly installments of $62,500 are to be paid to the Berlin Fire Company and $88,750 for EMS.

According to the terms, both the fire company and EMS will meet regularly with town officials to review recommendations included in a Matrix study and “Develop a sustainable funding formula for fire and rescue services in the Town of Berlin.”

Fire and EMS are to attend council meetings in October, January, April and July to provide quarterly financial and operational reports.

Both must adhere to a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30 and submit to an annual audit, to be paid for by the town and scheduled no later than Nov. 12, 2018. In a separate section of the agreement it states, “all financial information, including the BFC audit, may be disclosed to the public.”

Both must prepare a five-year financial plan, to include capital expenditures, sent to the town by Dec. 31.

Both must insure that officers and members do not “discriminate against any person on the basis of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age or color.”

Both agreed emergency vehicles would operate in a safe manner and “when prudent, observe posted speed limits within the Town of Berlin.”

The Berlin Fire Company and the town “will continue to work towards a permanent solution to the current use of sirens in a common effort to implement a reduction in the use of the sirens for fire notifications” by Dec. 31, along with a “mutual effort to eliminate routine use of the sirens for fire notification.”

The fire company also acknowledged “that Headquarters located on Main Street needs to be renovated to house BFC offices and appropriate living quarters for Fire/EMS career personnel, and BFC continues to plan for that renovation.”

Also in the agreement regarding the new Station 3, on Route 50 near Stephen Decatur High School, all initial capital funds for the new building “shall be taken from a separate and distinct construction account … which shall be kept separate from any funds contributed by the Town of Berlin; nor shall any funds from the Town of Berlin be utilized in any way” to build Station 3.

Additionally, the fire company and EMS “shall schedule and station ample advanced life support career EMS personnel, together with a minimum of one ambulance,” at Station 1.

The Berlin Fire Company is to form a separate, nonstock Maryland corporation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit known as “Berlin Fire Company Emergency Medical Services.” The new corporation “will be utilized for all aspects of providing emergency medical services and support as necessary to the Berlin Fire Company.”

According to the contract, all parties acknowledge the terms and conditions “are necessary for transparency and accountability to the citizens and tax payers of the Town of Berlin.” Also included, “The parties hereto agree that each shall make best efforts to communicate with the other in order to have a productive relationship.”

In the event of a breach of the terms, the mayor and council have the right to suspend funding.

Berlin Mayor Gee Williams on Monday said the town and fire and EMS have been working for months toward the agreement and had “a lot of very open and candid discussions.” He said town officials learned a lot about the fire and EMS services, while fire and EMS personnel learned about the fiduciary responsibilities of running a municipality.

According to Williams, the idea was to achieve transparency and accountability for taxpayer-funded grants.

“It’s sought to guarantee the level of services we’ve all come to expect, also recognizing that calls, particularly in EMS services, are growing faster than they used to,” Williams said. “We all agree … if we keep working together, we’ll find a good place. And I think these contracts tonight are a very good place to begin.”

No other Berlin elected officials or fire or EMS representatives commented on the contract on Monday, but on Tuesday, Gulyas explained his “no” vote. Tensions between fire company and town officials are nothing new, and talks toward a new agreement stalled out in August because of an apparent lack of information and concerns that taxpayer funds were being used to build Station 3.

“I don’t want to put the burden of this increase on the taxpayers or the citizens of the Town of Berlin without being able to substantiate where taxpayer monies are going,” Gulyas said. “I also don’t believe that taxpayer monies have not been spent on this new Station 3.”

Gulyas said the increase in funding could lead to a 20 percent – or more – tax increase in Berlin.

“Placing a huge tax increase on the Town of Berlin taxpayers to balance the books of the fire company and EMS is flat out wrong and not fair,” he said. “We’re still not privy to financial documents as a whole. My job, as I see it and speaking for myself, is I have a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens and the taxpayers of Berlin and I’m not satisfied the Berlin Fire Company has met our requirements to date. And I’m just not comfortable releasing those funds.”

Councilman Troy Purnell was not present during the vote and could not be reached for comment.