First Selectman’s Presentation Aims to Convince the BET Budget Committee of Need for NW Fire Station

First Selectman Peter Tesei and administration staff made a presentation on Monday to the Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget Committee on the need for a northwest fire station in northwest Greenwich.

The presentation was made in response to a sense of the meeting resolution approved by the RTM last September.

By a vote of 126-55-3 on September 17, 2018, the RTM approved the resolution that read in part, “the First Selectman’s Office and the Board of Estimate and Taxation should address the inadequate protection existing in the northwest area of Greenwich during the forthcoming budgetary process for the 2019-2020 budget.”

Since the September RTM vote, a core team comprised of the First Selectman, Town Administrator Ben Branyan, Fire Chief Peter Siecienski, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kick, GEMS Executive Director Tracy Schietinger and Senior Management Analyst Blaize Levitan, have met weekly to develop the 57-page analysis and report that was presented to the Budget Committee.

The full presentation can be found on the town website. Click here.

According to the presentation the problem boils down to emergency response times in northwest Greenwich far exceeding 4 minutes, the nationally recommended time that increases the chance of rescuing trapped occupants and reducing property damage.

Also, in addition to residents, the area features schools, businesses, churches, public and private golf courses and more traffic on King Street and the Merritt Parkway, yet still has inadequate protection against fire and other emergencies.