SWAMPSCOTT – Board of Selectmen voted to fund but not to fill a vacancy in the fire department, which does not sit well with the Swampscott Fire Fighters Union.”The Swampscott Fire Fighters Union is extremely disappointed in the vote of the board of Selectmen not to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Lt. David Marsh,” Union President William Hyde Jr. said.”The union ? bargained away a training officer’s position in good faith during the last negotiations in order to keep a firefighter’s job.”Since the beginning of our three-year contract (July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009) we have not only lost that officer’s position, we have also laid off the person that was to be spared and now this loss,” Hyde said. “In fact since 2003 the Fire Department has lost five total positions either through layoff or attrition. During this time the union also gave up staffing a third piece of apparatus for the three winter months in order to help the Town of Swampscott’s budget woes. “A statement issued by the union reads, “In just five short years your Fire Department has gone from placing nine firefighters at a scene with two engines and one ladder to placing as few a seven firefighters with one engine and one ladder. We have to ask where is this going to end.”Fire Chief Richard Carmody echoed union concerns regarding the unfilled position.”The money is there to hire this person,” he said. “We have three vacancies right now. This is not a wise decision and it could cost the town more in the long run due to overtime.”Carmody said when he started as chief less than three years ago the department had four groups of nine members each.”It’s like a baseball team,” he said. “You need nine guys. You can’t come out on the field with eight guys and expect to win. We ran two engines and a ladder three years ago. Now we are down to four groups of eight people and we can only run one engine and a ladder.”Carmody pointed out the department responds to approximately 2,000 emergency calls a year in addition to its other duties.”We have to inspect every business in town,” he said. “We inspect sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and oil burners. We conduct mandatory fire drills. We’re out all the time.”Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said Carmody provided him with data indicating if the position is left unfilled it could cost $46,000 in overtime. Maylor said an entry-level firefighter position would cost approximately $40,000 a year, which does not include benefits.Maylor said he told the selectmen that funding and filling the position would be a guaranteed fixed cost.Selectman Marc Paster was the only member of the Board of Selectmen, who was opposed to not filling the position.”The position is funded in the budget,” he said. “I wanted to fill it right away. I believe we’re at minimum staffing levels and it could be a public safety issue. I think not filling it will cost the town more in the long run because of the impact of overtime.”Board of Selectmen Chairman Adam Forman said the other four members of the Board agreed it should be left unfilled.”We vote to fund but not fill the position,” he said. “We are going to look at and monitor the overtime costs for a few months in the new fiscal year before making a decision on whether to fill the position.”