Firefighters in the village of Owego will stay on the job, at least for now. At last night’s village board meeting over two dozen people spoke in favor of, and against the department’s new proposed “Operations Manual” in front of a full house. After nearly an hour of public comment, the trustees and mayor commenced their own discussion about the document, in which they agreed it was good, but not perfect. The department is up against a June 1st deadline to pass new Standard Operating Guidelines which specifically address issues discovered after firefighter Matt Porcari was killed in the line of duty last year. Tensions were running high this week, as over 20 reported members of the department grew frustrated that their concerns were not being addressed. Those members threatened to resign “en-masse” at last night’s meeting if the whole operating manual were not passed as is. Trustees were able to defuse the situation temporarily by determining that the manual should be handled by the village board and fire department in two parts. One will address the immediate health and safety issues cited by PESH on May 19th, before the June 1st deadline. If the looming June 1st deadline is not met, PESH will assess daily fines, until the concerns are mitigated. The other issues, which reportedly deal with the leadership structure of the department, will be addressed on or before the village’s June 16th board meeting. The move buys the village some time with its volunteer firefighters, and turns the issue back to Owego’s mayor, trustees, fire chiefs and fire board to come to a consensus.
