Voters in the Riverhead Fire District yesterday overwhelmingly supported the enhancement of the district’s longevity benefit for volunteer firefighters.
A ballot proposition to amend the Length of Service Awards Program was approved by a vote of 463 to 30.
“On behalf of the officers and members, I want to thank the public that came out and supported us,” Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Ed Carey said in an interview this morning. “We can’t thank them enough,” he said.
The amendment to the program, which was originally adopted in 1997, increases a monthly benefit provided to firefighters from $20 to $30 for each year of active service in the department, extends the maximum years of service credit to 50 years, and increases the maximum monthly benefit to $1,500.
The program is an important recruitment and retention tool for the department, Carey said.
MORE COVERAGE: Riverhead Fire District is asking voters to support vols with enhanced length of service benefit
“We believe the changes will help the department attract some new, younger members,” Carey said. “It also provides an important incentive for the younger people with 20 years of service to remain active members,” he said. “We really appreciate the public’s support,” Carey reiterated.
In other balloting, district voters filled two seats on the board of commissioners.
Timothy Murphy defeated Kathleen Berezny 416 – 80, in voting to fill the unexpired term of Commissioner William Kelly Sr., who died in June at age 70. Murphy was elected to a three-year term.
Kyle Watts defeated Richard Campbell 229-209 for a five-year term on the board. Watts will succeed longtime Commissioner Dennis Hammill, who is retiring upon the expiration of his current term on Dec. 31.
Hammill, an ex-chief of the department, “chose not to run again after a long and distinguished service to the board,” Carey said.
The total number of ballots cast in yesterday’s election was 513, out of the 16,717 names on the Riverhead Fire District’s poll list, according to the certification of the Suffolk County Board of Elections inspectors who oversaw the vote. The certificate filed by the inspectors states the firefighter Justin Winters received one vote in the election for the five-year term. There were a total of 20 blank, destroyed or otherwise defective ballots, according to the certificate, a copy of which was obtained by RiverheadLOCAL.
The Riverhead Fire Department was established in 1836 to provide fire protection to the district, which encompasses about 48 square miles and takes in the hamlet of Riverside and a portion of the hamlet of Northampton in the Town of Southampton. It is the largest of four fire districts within the Town of Riverhead.
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