Swampscott To Spend $223K In ARPA Funds For Fire, EMT Pandemic Service

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — The Swampscott Select Board voted Wednesday night to authorize nearly a quarter-million dollars of its American Rescue Plan Act allotment toward a one-time bonus payment for firefighter and emergency medical technician service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The motion was to authorize the $223,000 in ARPA payments for firefighters and EMTs who provided critical governmental services between March 17, 2020 and Nov. 9, 2022 "in consideration of exemplary work during the pandemic, including work as deputy health agents and exposure to hazardous materials and the resolution of overtime staffing cases and additional complaints."

The funds were previously earmarked in the resolution of the firefighter contract impasse that had lasted for a year.

"We spent many months going over a complicated contract," Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said on Wednesday. "We have gone through quite a few years of complexity with the pandemic and I certainly hope that this contract will provide some stability but also recognize the extraordinary work of the men and women who keep Swamscott safe."

The 4-1 vote included an objection from Select Board member Peter Spellios, who also voted against the contract at a Select Board meeting last month.

"I don't believe this is an appropriate use of ARPA funds," Spellios said on Wednesday. "I understand and appreciate all your hard work in negotiating the contract and I can only imagine how difficult it is. ... But from the outside and how it played out publicly, I think it's really unfortunate.

"Most importantly, I don't think this is a financially sound contract and I don't think this can be seen as a model that we can sustain as a town going forward."

Swampscott Select Board members late last month expressed some reluctance and frustration in the new firefighter contract that a majority of them voted to approve and which includes payments to settle pandemic overtime and other grievances filed against the town.

The new deal provides cost-of-living increases of at least 2.5 percent annually over each of the next three years, a $1,000 annual hazardous material stipend effective Jan. 1 that rises to $1,500 in 2024, and another $500 to reward firefighters who acted as public health agents patrolling beaches and handing out masks during the COVID-19 health crisis.

It also includes the one-time, $4,500 stipend — proposed to be paid using the town's ARPA funds — in recognition both of pandemic services to the residents of Swampscott, but also to settle several outstanding union grievances filed with the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission against the town over hiring, staffing and other issues the union determined to be unfairly coercive.

The new deal also gives Chief Graham Archer broader authority to mitigate mandatory staffing requirements for budgetary reasons, authorizes the creation of a civilian payroll position, raises the maximum age cap for new firefighters and anoints Juneteenth as a paid department holiday.

The payments leave Swampscott with about $4 million in remaining ARPA funds.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)