WINDHAM–After hearing impassioned pleas both for and against various proposals regarding the future of Windham public safety, the Windham Town Council voted Tuesday night to merge Windham dispatch with Cumberland County, restore the deputy fire chief’s position and send a $13.7 million municipal budget on to voters at June 12’s annual town meeting.

About 75 people, mostly public safety personnel, packed the council chambers for the four-hour-long meeting, which culminated in the council’s 5-2 approval of the 2010-11 town budget. Councilors Carol Waig and John McKinnon voted against the budget.

Passions ran high for much of the night, with multiple firefighters voicing the benefits of having an assistant chief, and even Deputy Fire Chief John Wescott’s wife and daughters taking to the podium calling for the council to save the position, which was established eight years ago.

“You’re not just laying John off, but three daughters, 18, 20 and 22, they’re going to be sophomore, junior senior in college next year. John holds the benefits. I run a licensed day care at our house, so we lose our benefits and I hope you guys reconsider that. John is one of the best, he’s got great support, look at this room,” Jen Wescott said as she pointed to the numerous firefighters assembled in support of the deputy chief.

In response to the nearly two hours of testimony regarding the deputy fire chief, Councilor John McKinnon offered an amendment to save the position by making cuts to the budget elsewhere. Those cuts were avoided, however, when Councilor Bill Tracy notified councilors of an estimated $40,000 worth of insurance savings the town has recently realized by renegotiating insurance premiums. The council then voted unanimously to reinstall Wescott’s $63,000 salary and $22,000 in benefits by tapping the insurance savings and using the $45,000 in pay for per diem firefighters that was to be used in place of the deputy fire chief.

Dispatch dispatched

While the council reversed course on the deputy chief’s position, the proposal to merge Windham dispatch with Cumberland County stayed on target. Knowing the votes weren’t there to keep dispatch local, McKinnon instead proposed an amendment to the budget that would have put the decision out to Windham voters. That proposal failed to garner support from all councilors but Waig, who has been outspoken in her support of local dispatch.

McKinnon cited a recently published, seven-year study by the Scarborough Police Department, which he said raises several questions with the effectiveness of regionalized dispatch. In the end, the protests by McKinnon and Waig protests weren’t enough to persuade the council to restore local dispatch.

Merging with Cumberland County – whose dispatch service already covers 17 towns and agencies throughout the county and is located on High Street in South Windham – will save the town $135,000 in the coming year and $210,000 in subsequent years, Town Manager Tony Plante said. Waig, however, doesn’t buy the county-provided cost projections and suspects costs could rise sharply at the end of the three-year contract, especially since Windham won’t have budgetary oversight.

“When we look at contracts, everybody is hoping to get business, and they keep that bid fairly low and then they up it,” Waig said.

While councilors Peter Busque and Scott Hayman were silent for most of the night, councilors Matt Noel and Bill Tracy spoke in defense of the merger with the county and of keeping the budget at a reasonable level given the economic slowdown. Rebuffing calls from Waig and McKinnon to put the emotional and controversial issue to a public vote, Noel said the dispatch decision is one that should be made by the council.

“There’s no doubt this is very serious matter, and I’m sitting here tonight facing tough decisions, but I believe it’s what they elected me to do, make tough decisions and not pass them necessarily on to a general election,” Noel said. “So, I’m not going to pass the buck. I believe it’s easier to pass the buck. Let someone else take the blame; let someone else take the responsibility; let someone else do it. We were elected as leaders of this community. It’s time to step up and be leaders of this community.”

Now that the council has finalized a budget, Windham voters will get a chance to weigh in June 12 at annual town meeting. According to town attorney Ken Cole III, who spoke prior to Tuesday night’s debate, voters at town meeting can only make reductions in spending or shift money within the budget. Voters, he said, can’t increase spending.