Residents Invited to Vote for Fire Commissioners, Fire Budgets

Fire commissioner elections for all four districts in Bridgewater will be held Saturday as residents are asked to vote for commissioners and proposed budgets.

Residents should vote in their individual districts, and polls will be open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Bridgewater Township Fire Official Phillip Langon said that, in the last couple of years, the state’s Department of Community Affairs has put more restrictions on fire district budgets, mandating that they only increase by between 2 and 4 percent.

“This year, they are required to only rise up to 2 percent,” he said. “In the last couple of years, the budgets have been more controlled by the state.”

Langon said the number of people who actually come out to vote during the elections varies year to year. At times, he said, there are as few as 30 people, and other times there are more than 100 voters.

“It could depend on the questions and who’s running,” he said.

For fire district number one, Jim Kalafsky and John Lichtig are running for two three-year terms on the board of fire commissioners. Also on the ballot is a request to appropriate $472,203 for the 2011 budget for the fire district, of which $465,331 will be raised through taxation, and which is unchanged from 2010.

Kalafsky and Lichtig will be running for their first terms on the board, as the two incumbents have opted not to run again with one moving out of state and the other choosing to pursue other interests.

In district two, incumbents Doug Zielaznicki and Ronald Hazen are running for two three-year terms. Robert Hanlon II is also running for one of the spots.

As for the budget for the district, the commission is asking for voters to vote in favor of the appropriation of $434,547 for the 2011 budget, with $399,067 to be raised by taxation.

“The budget is only going up about 2 percent,” Langon said.

The two incumbents, Anthony Carpiniello and Howard Norgalis, are the only ones running for two three-year terms in the third fire district. As for the budget, the commission is requesting the approval of an $841,400 budget, with $840,900 to be raised through taxes.

For Norgalis, he is running for his fifth term. And, he said, Carpaniello is running for his third term.

Norgalis, who is also a member of the township council, said the turnout among residents in the third district is generally light, with often about 150 people voting.

“Of course we had 502 people when there was a new truck on the agenda,” he said. “But the budget is mostly unchanged this year. I would hope it’s noncontroversial.”

Finally, in the fourth district, only Allen Kurdyla is up for reelection, and he is running unopposed. In terms of the budget, the commission has created a $537,436 budget, with $493,798 to be raised through taxes.

Kurdyla, who is also a township councilman, said he has been a commissioner since 1978, and a member of the Finderne Volunteer Fire Company since 1968.

“I felt I could contribute by becoming a commissioner,” he said.

What the boards themselves do, Kurdyla said, is serve as the business side of the firefighting.

“The budget is part of the tax base, and we want it to have that logic and be fair to the firefighters,” he said. “One of the responsibilities is to prepare the budget, and to provide the equipment and the protection that the firefighters need.”

Kurdyla said residents have a great deal of respect for the firefighters, but don’t always understand all the costs associated with the fire companies for training and gear as prices have risen over the years.

“There is a lot that goes in to it, and a lot that was cheaper before,” he said. “But it is the way it is, and we try to keep up with the standards.”

“And unlike years past, a large part of the budget is insurance,” he added.

This year, Kurdyla said, district number four is hoping to purchase a few radios, and is planning to buy a smaller amount this year, rather than buying all they need next year. And the district, he said, also tries to plan for years ahead.

“There are projects that will be expensive,” he said. “But there is nothing major in this year’s budget. We do put money aside for long range.”

Kurdyla said turnout for the fourth district is not usually high, particularly as more people are starting to do mail-in voting.

“With voting by mail, we are getting a larger turnout,” he said. “But it’s not in the thousands.”

“In the last year or so, we had about 60 voters,” he added. “But there has never been a high number.”

Residents living in fire district one will vote at the Martinsville Volunteer Fire House on Washington Valley Road; district number two votes at the No. 24 on Old York Road; district number three votes at the on Commons Way; and district number four votes at the on East Main Street.