Monday evening the Plymouth Common Council considered an amendment to the ordinance concerning Volunteer Firefighters and volunteer EMT/Paramedic.
City Attorney Sean Surrisi introduced the amendment for first reading which requires not action of the council. The city attorney did ask Fire Chief Steve Holm to discuss the proposed changes to the ordinance.
Chief Holm said, “So with changing the volunteer pay we are looking to change it from $15 to $20. With changing it from a per call payment to a per credit allows for a little more leniency in how we pay and helps to recoup the volunteer’s time when they have to put in extra time.”
The ordinance amendment says each volunteer firefighter and volunteer EMT/Paramedic will earn credits for their service at the following rates.
A medical call with patient care and reporting is 2 credits.
A medical or fire call for up to the first 2 hours is 1 credit.
A medical or fire call for the third hour is half a credit.
A medical or fire call as a fourth hour and beyond is a half credit.
Fire Department meetings would also be 1 credit.
Volunteers will be paid nominal compensation at a rate of $20 per credit and $10 per half credit. Payments are to be made monthly.
City Councilman Don Ecker said they moved the pay to $15 about 5 years ago and there was a 12-year gap from the move from $12 to $15. He said the council’s intention was to review this every few years and COVID delayed the timetable. He said this is a 5-year period and he’s spent a lot of time working with Chief Holm to put this new proposal together.
The second ordinance for first reading was an ordinance to amend the 2022 Salary Ordinance pertaining to the Certification stipend for Paramedics.
Chief Holm said paramedics are currently given a $2,500 stipend for their certification and maintaining those credentials. The proposal is to double that stipend to $5,000 in addition to the base salary for a paramedic.
No action was taken since both ordinance amendments were being heard on 1st reading. The Plymouth City Council will consider action on the ordinance amendments at their next meeting on Monday, March 28th.
