Garden City officials voted Tuesday night to approve a settlement of more than $1.1 million for a dozen paid firefighters, clearing the way for the village's plan to rely on an all-volunteer force.
The village board had voted July 25 to abolish the 90-year-old paid fire department after village officials said having volunteer firefighters would save the village about $2 million annually.
The volunteer force will include more than 100 firefighters, as well as fire chiefs who will take control of all staffing decisions in the department, according to the settlement. The board swore in five new volunteer firefighters Tuesday night.
“We’ve focused on safety and we believe this gets rid of protocols adversely affecting our response,” Mayor Brian Daughney said. “This is severance done in business every day of the year. We bought out people and settled litigation and without question, it was worth the trade-off.”