By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

The Goffstown Fire Department needs a new classification of employee to meet call demands, the town’s fire chief told selectmen at their meeting on Monday, June 12.

Because calls to the department equally involve fire and emergency response services, Carpentino said he advocates a new position of part-time firefighter/EMT.

“In no way should this be considered an attempt to phase out full-time or on-call firefighters,” Carpentino said of the proposed position.

“We have the hardest time meeting the demands of weekends and holidays,” he said.

Carpentino did not make a formal request for selectmen to create the new position at the meeting, but asked that selectmen add the item to future agendas.

The discussion of the department’s staffing needs came as part of a department overview Carpentino presented to selectmen.

Carpentino listed “lack of sufficient operational and administrative employees” as one of the department’s areas of concern in the 2006 budget.

The fire department currently has 15 full-time employees and 31 members of the call force, plus nine part-time EMTs, Carpentino said.

The fire department expects to make 2,000 emergency responses this year, Carpentino said. Those calls have been increased because of the Mother’s Day floods, he said.

Selectmen Chairman Barbara Griffin commented on how the floods may affect the department’s overtime schedule.

“As of April, we had an overtime problem, and that was before the floods,” Griffin said.

Carpentino said the department responded to 198 weather-related calls during the floods. Griffin requested a list of all different types of calls the department responded to, which Carpentino said he would provide.

Selectmen took no vote regarding the part-time firefighter/EMT position at the meeting.

Road projects

Public Works Director Carl Quiram also appeared before selectmen to address two issues.

First, he asked selectmen to approve a bid for a road repair project on Black Brook Road. That project, which Quiram called “the DPW’s largest reclamation project of the year,” repairs a section of Black Brook Road from the town line to Cinnamon Drive.

Selectmen voted to award the $1.3 million project to John Neville Construction by a margin of 4-0, with all members present except Bruce Hunter.

Board members also unanimously approved the purchase of a $58,000 bridge to replace Harry Brook Bridge. Once that project is complete, Henry Bridge Road should be passable to trucks by July, Quiram said. The road is currently open to car traffic only.