Fire department merger could be example for others

From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 22

PITTSBURGH, PA – A merger of Pittsburgh's and Wilkinsburg's fire departments could become a model for others to follow, officials said yesterday.

The agreement that takes effect April 1, bringing the borough's fire operations under the city, will save Wilkinsburg money and likely improve fire operations, they said.

"I believe this merger will be looked at as the statewide model for efficient and effective consolidation," Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said.

The agreement is one that firefighter unions are eyeing as a model of consolidation, said Joe King, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1, the city's union that Wilkinsburg's 24 firefighters will join when they become Pittsburgh employees.

They'll start as third-year firefighters paid $48,625 a year and be required to move into the city within 12 months.

Wilkinsburg, which pays the city for garbage collection, will pay Pittsburgh nearly $7.6 million through Dec. 31, 2015, for fire services. That will save the borough more than $600,000 on its annual $2.2 million fire budget, said Councilman Jason Cohn.

The agreement won't cost city taxpayers money, Ravenstahl said. He predicted it also will improve fire protection in the city's East End and in the borough.

Wilkinsburg Manager Marla Marcinko said the borough will make a one-time payment of about $1.8 million into the city's pension fund, using its pension assets to pay that bill. Once the city assumes fire operations, the borough will have 65 employees.

The borough will close its fire station on Park Avenue, but the station at the borough building will be staffed full time. Officials said the response time from a city fire station on Hamilton Avenue in Homewood is comparable to that of the Park Avenue station.

"This is a new chapter in the history of Wilkinsburg," borough Mayor John Thompson said.