Attorney hired as Albion, Gaines look at possibility of fire district

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Albion fire hall on Platt Street is shown this morning. The department responds to about 500 calls a year.

ALBION – The Village of Albion and towns of Albion and Gaines will look closely at the possibility of forming a fire district to manage fire protection for the two towns and village.

The Village Board on Wednesday voted to hire attorney Raymond DiRaddo of Rochester at $175 an hour. That cost will be shared by thirds among the two towns and village, the Village Board said.

The fire department is currently managed by the Village Board and the funding is included in the village budget with the two towns paying a fire protection contract to the village.

The village would like the two towns to pay more towards the fire department budget. With a fire district the fire department expenses would be in its own budget, rather than folded into the village budget.

The costs would be clearly identified, and the communities would likely pay a share based on their assessed value.

The fire district would be managed by a board of commissioners who would be elected. They could focus on managing the fire department.

Lyndonville just shifted to a fire district, rather than having it be part of the village budget with the town of Yates paying a fire protection contract. Holley and Murray also recently formed a joint fire district.

The issue has been brought up before in Albion. Some Village Board members are interested in exploring the district especially with the village facing the need to replace two fire trucks that together could be close to $3 million. The Albion Fire Department has been strongly urging the village in recent years to prepare for replacing a ladder truck from 1996 and a pumper from 1992.

Mayor Angel Javier Jr. said that cost is too much to be borne in the village budget. He said the expense should be spread out among the entire community served by the fire department.

In 2023 the fire protection rates for the towns includes $1.03 in Albion, $1.56 in Barre, 77 cents in Carlton, 89 cents in Clarendon, 78 cents in Gaines, $1.15 in Kendall for the Kendall fire district and $1.61 for the Hamlin-Walker-Morton combined fire district, $1.82 in Murray, $1.16 in Ridgeway, $1.55 in Shelby, and $1.05 in Yates.