Marseglia.org

We had our Annual Meeting of the Manville Fire District last night at the Fire Station. I was disappointed with the turn out. There were very few taxpayers at the meeting. Most of the audience were firefighters who also live and pay taxes in Manville. Even more disappointing was that our Moderator failed to attend the meeting, causing some pre-meeting floundering as we scrambled to find a new Moderator.

The meeting was business as usual. The Treasurer, Ronald McKenna, commented on our auditor's report which for the first time accurately reported our activities under GASB as a governmental agency.

Most importantly we raised the level of pay for our volunteers and maintained our equipment maintenance program without raising taxes. Our Treasurer continues to invest wisely and the subsequent interest offsets our expenses, to the tune of approximately $14,000 for fiscal year 2007-2008.

In sum, I am proud serve a District such as this with an excellent Chief and volunteer staff. The Manville, RI taxpayers should recognize what an excellent job the firefighters of this district do and that their motivation is not monetary but service, something we should all consider.