Onset Fire District voters OK'd one of seven proposals addressed during a special meeting on Monday, and passed on the others due to legal concerns and lingering questions.

The district approved the spending of $15,000 on assessment testing for the Onset Fire Department, should the department decidea to use an outside testing firm to choose the best candidate for the newly-added shift commander position.

Voters approved the addition of another shift commander to the department during the district's annual meeting in the spring. The Board of Engineers is charged with determining whether it should choose a firefighter to promote for the position or whether to use an independent testing firm to evaluate the candidates for the job.

Because Chief Howard Andersen's son is in the running for the position, he opted not to cast a vote on how to proceed. The other two engineers split the vote.

The $15,000 will only be spent if the department ultimately decides to go that route. The next step is unclear. If testing is not completed, the $15,000 will return to the district's general funding.

The rest of the agenda addressed spousal benefits, qualifications for members of Onset Fire's Board of Engineers, and asked the district to accept a donation of a boat.

Spousal benefits
Three articles addressing benefits for the spouses of employees in the event of an employee's death.

District voters were first asked to decide whether the surviving spouse of a current or retired district employee should receive 50% of the premium costs for medical, dental, and other health insurance.

After much debate, voters decided to further study the matter. Two articles that addressed additional benefits for spouses -- whether the district would pay "an additional or subsidiary rate" in addition to the 50% and whether that additional percentage should be set at 49% -- were then moot and thus were not voted upon.

Qualifications for deputy chiefs
After hearing advice from a lawyer for the district, voters indefinitely postponed a decision on whether to revise the district bylaws in such a way that would require anyone appointed to serve as Deputy Chief (currently called "Assistant Engineers") at the Onset Fire Department to have:

• Obtained certificates from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy or an equivalent institution for "Fire Officer 1 & 2," and Chief Fire Officer training
• Received all training required for compliance with the National Incident Management System

"In the event that an Assistant Engineer is not qualified to hold the position of Deputy Chief, he/she shall hold the highest rank within the Fire Department as his/her training and experience allows," the district warrant reads.

The bylaw change aimed to change the current positions of First and Second Assistant Engineers to two Deputy Chief positions, of which the fire chief chooses the "senior deputy chief."

Attorney Matthew Tobin was concerned that the bylaw would be unenforceable.

"In terms of the content of this proposed bylaw, ... I think it raises issues with enforceability ... because of conflicts" with the district's current bylaws, Tobin explained.

Tobin was also concerned about a piece of the proposed bylaw that said that members of the Prudential Committee could not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the district's departments or committees. (This subject was also addressed later in the meeting, as another proposed bylaw aimed to do the same.)

The proposed bylaw would "limit the authorities of the Prudential Committee and would restrict any interference with the personnel decisions and the day-to-day operations of the Fire Department," Tobin explained, adding that the "Prudential Committee plays a fundamental role" in the district and he wasn't sure how it would perform its duties without "offending" the proposed bylaw.

Previously, the Assistant Engineer positions were elected and no experience was required to assume the position if elected. That changed in 2010, when district voters decided that the engineer positions should be appointed by the Prudential Committee. Currently, the bylaws do not require any minimum qualifications for the job.

Boat donation
Voters were asked to accept the donation of a 25-foot Safe Boat and trailer from the Federal Excess Property Program and allow the use of $60,000 of the district's "free cash," or unallocated funding, be used for replacing, repairing, and purchasing equipment so that the boat can be put into service for the Onset Fire Department.

A decision was sent to further study after voters learned that the district's current amount of free cash has not yet been confirmed, or "certified," by the state, so it is unclear if the $60,000 is available.

In other district business:
Voters were asked to accept a bylaw that states that the Prudential Committee cannot be "involved or interfere with the day-to-day operations" of any other committee or department of the district.

Attorney Tobin reiterated his concerns about the legality of the language of the proposed bylaw and his concerns about whether it could truly be enforced.

Voters sent the proposal to further study.