Brockport to outfit fire department career staff

In an effort to provide for the safety of the Brockport Fire Department’s career staff’s safety, they will soon be outfitted with "turn out" gear.

Brockport Village Board officials voted unanimously at the August 19 regular board meeting to support the purchases of 12 sets of turn out gear for the career staff. The gear, for the 12 full sets, would run between $8,000 and $12,000, Deputy Fire Chief Christian McCullough said.

"We’re looking to purchase the equipment out of third party billing funds," he said. "It’s a budgeted item."

Mayor Josephine Matela said, "We have to provide the staff with every measure of safety."

Trustee James Whipple did agree there is adequate funding for the gear.

In other matters the board:

•Members held a public hearing on the village’s participation in the NYS Retirement Incentive Program. There were no comments from the public and the village unanimously decided to participate.

•Mayor Josephine Matela said so far only one employee had accepted the retirement incentive. No figures were available on how many individuals were eligible, how many would opt for the incentive or how much the final cost would be to the village. "The payout amounts are figured by the state," Matela said. "And we don’t have any firm figures on who will be accepting the payout."

•Code Enforcement Officer Scott Zarnstorff reported that his office issued 22 building permits for the month of July at a cost of $1,005. Year to date, he said more than $14,950 has been collected in permit fees.

"We’ve also seen about $3.7 million in new construction in the village," Zarnstorff said. "And for the month of July we completed 55 home inspections."