Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, January 17, 2020 ASKS | from page 1 fire station – a need that fire officials have sought for more than three decades. Cross, 52, is a 1985 graduate of Saugus High School. He played all four years on the Saugus High School basketball team and was a captain in his senior season. Cross has been a Saugus resident since moving from Chelsea to town with his family when he was five years old. His father, William E. Cross, Jr., is a retired Chelsea Fire Department captain who served with that city’s fire service for 35 years. William E. Cross III, now in his 26th year with the town’s fire service, is president of Saugus Firefighters Union Local #1003. He is a 2008 recipient of the MedSABATINO INSURANCE AGENCY Call for a Quote 617-387-7466 Or email Rocco@sabatino-ins.com We cover: * Auto * Home * Boat * Renter * Condo * Life * Multi-Policy Discounts * Commercial 10% Discounts * Registry Service Also Available al of Valor for his rescue of a double amputee while he was offduty. Cross and Saugus Firefighter Anthony Roger Arone were among a group of firefighters from 14 fire departments across the state who were honored as 2019 “Firefighter of the Year Award” recipients. Their rescue of a man from a July 25, 2018, apartment fire at 7 Falmouth St. in Saugus was one of the acts of valor cited by the state Department of Fire Services during the 30th presentation of the awards. Cross received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Suffolk University while minoring in English. He is among a group of several former Saugus Town Meeting members who ran last fall and got elected after several years away from Town Meeting. He has served as chair of the Saugus Retirement Board since 1997. Cross has served as a mentor for two decades at Saugus High School’s annual Shadow Day. He and his wife, Tracy (a 1988 Saugus High School graduate), have three sons: Andrew, 24; Patrick, 22; and Joseph, 19. Mrs. Cross is a teacher’s aide in Chelsea Public Schools. Highlights of this week’s interview follow. Q: Billy, where are we at with http://www.sabatino-ins.com SABATINO 564 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 617-387-7466 Hours of Operation are: Mondays - Fridays 9am to 5pm Saturdays by appointment only the west side fire station? We interviewed you on this topic about three years ago. You seemed pretty optimistic back then, but the momentum for the project seemed to die until this past town election campaign. A: It’s my understanding right now is that the new Board of Selectmen is going to be convening a committee soon to look into this. I don’t know what happened last night [town manager/Board of Selectmen workshop]. But Anthony Cogliano [Board of Select505 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 Tel: 617-387-1120 www.gkdental.com • Family Dentistry • Crowns • Bridges • Veneers/Lumineers • Dental Implants • All on 4 Dental Implants • Emergency Dentist • Kid Friendly Dentist • Root Canals • Dentures • Invisalign Braces • Snap On Smile • Teeth Whitening We are the smile care experts for your entire family MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN EVER: Saugus Fire Department Lt. William E. Cross III says he’s never felt better about the chances of the town finally building a third fire station, to be located on the west side of town. “You’d have to be insane not to be on board with this,” Cross said in an interview this week. (Saugus Advocate file photo by Mark E. Vogler) men Chair] had called me to talk to me about it. I asked him if I could be on the committee. He told me that if he puts it together, I would be. So, I know they are in the stages for that. I also know that the town is looking to have a study done to see if they truly need it or not. Q: A consultant to do a feasibility study. A: But like I tell the town manager, I give it “the eye test.” You can hire all of the consultants and people that you want. But just give it “the eye test,” and when you go around town – try to go around town and start from 6:30 in the morning until seven at night. It’s pretty much gridlock round here all of the time. There’s a lot of traffic and there’s a lot more people living in town. I don’t care what the census says – there’s a lot more people living in town. It’s the biggest pass-through town on the North Shore; everyone coming from Boston is cutting through Saugus to get home. They can say what they want about our population, but at the end of the day, we got between 60,000 and 70,000 people in this town all day long. Q: Are you or any other Town In House Dental Plan for $399 (Cleanings, X-Rays, Exams twice a year and 20% OFF Dental work) Schedule your FREE Consultations today Meeting members planning on introducing any articles for the upcoming Annual Town Meeting, having to do with the west side fire station? A: I’ll never say never, but right now that’s not my top priority. But when we’re all on the same page, things will get done. If I want it and the chief wants it, but the town manager doesn’t want it – well, that doesn’t work. Before we do something like that [a Town Meeting warrant article], I’d like to make sure that everybody is on the same page and we understand where we need to be and how we are going to get there. Q: There seems to be a tremendous amount of support growing for the additional station. A: Well, listen … we’ve been lucky in this town. We outgrew our Fire Department 30 years ago. This has been a concern for 30 years. We have been lucky, but one day our luck is going to run out. And God forbid something catastrophic would happen … that we could lose buildings or lives or whatever it is. I just don’t want to see that happen. I understand that – at the end of the day – that every town has a budget and they got to do what’s best for them, but without public safety, without basic safety, you have nothing. You can build all the schools you want. You can build all of the things you want. But without safety, you have nothing. I will give the manager credit. The Fire Department, right now, as it stands, is a lot better off right now than we were two years ago, but we have a ways to go; we still have a ways to go. Q: Does the Fire Department currently have adequate staff, so that they could staff a third ASKS | SEE PAGE 7
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