Spending to Offset Early Retirement Vacancies
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With the unanimous blessing of the Board of Selectmen following a meeting last night, Fire Chief William Sullivan announced plans to quickly fill ongoing vacancies within the Norwood Fire Department. Chief Sullivan stated that three new firefighters will be hired within two weeks and will become full-fledged department members in about a month following two weeks of intensive training. The fourth vacancy in the department stemmed from the departure of the chief’s secretary last month under the town’s early-retirement incentive program.
The fire department emerged as one of the municipal departments hardest hit by the sweeping early-retirement initiative, which saw 27 town employees—including four part-time workers—opt to retire. Town Clerk-Accountant Robert Thornton reported that the overall retirement program will save Norwood $400,480 in its first year, surpassing initial projections of $306,000 by deciding to leave 12 full-time and one part-time position permanently unfilled. Selectmen Chairman Gary Lee noted that the board will collaborate with Town Manager John Carroll and Thornton during their next scheduled meeting on August 25 to finalize which specific municipal positions will remain vacant long-term.
Chief Sullivan explained that hiring the three new firefighters will allow the department to maintain a minimum staffing level of at least 10 firefighters per shift, preventing the necessity of reducing active engine deployment from three trucks down to two. To bridge the operational gap until the new recruits complete their training, selectmen also approved Sullivan’s request to increase the department’s overtime budget from approximately $121,000 to $173,000. Sullivan noted that the department had already expended $25,000 in overtime over the course of the summer, roughly half of which was directly attributable to vacancies created by the retirements.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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