Alpena Township Board of Trustees may hire consultant to help construct fire plan
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ALPENA -- The Alpena Township Board of Trustees is considering hiring a consultant, mediator, or facilitator to help trustees work together to come up with a plan to restructure the township Fire Department.
The move is being considered because the board, its Fire Committee, and Fire Department administrators have yet to find a viable option for the department and how to cut costs while offering quality services to residents.
At its regular meeting on Monday, the board voted six to zero to begin fact finding that could lead to the hiring of an outsider to help the board come up with a game plan and help mend a divide on the board over the department's future.
If someone is hired, they may be paid with a portion of the $920,000 the township received from the federal government via the American Rescue Plan Act.
Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said the board will need to draft a request for proposals laying out the scope of service the board desires. A consultant would be selected from the bids received.
"The bottom line is we need to get out of our own way to figure out a solution," Skibbe said. "All options need to be on the table, because remaining in the same rut isn't a solution."
The township Fire Department has battled through staffing shortages and township leaders say they can't afford to continue subsidizing the department from the township general fund. The township has already lowered its Fire Department licensure from basic life support/non-transfer to medical first responder in 2021 and further cuts in services could be in order if savings aren't found.
Township property owners pay 1.5-mill property tax for Fire Department operations and will pay that tax through 2027, but the department also depends on an allocation from the general fund that totals hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. The property tax costs the owner of a $100,000 house about $75 a year.
Last year, township voters twice declined a proposed 3-mill tax increase to help cover firefighting expenses, which forced the board's hand to come up with other options.
In the 2023-24 township budget that runs from April 1 through March 31, $198,000 in general fund money is earmarked to the Fire Department.
Trustee Russ Rhynard said that he can't continue to support spending that amount from the general fund each year on top of what the property tax brings in. He said he doubts what is budgeted for next fiscal year will be enough.
"We have to work within the means that we have," Rhynard said. "We just passed a budget that isn't going to support this Fire Department, as it stands, for a full year. We'll probably run out of money, for this budget, in seven or eight months."
In 2021, it appeared the township had found a way to reduce cost and still provide adequate first responder response. A contract with Alpena to have the city Fire Department take over response for the township was proposed, but, in the end, the contract was voted down by the township board four to three. The proposed contract would have cost the township between $400,000 and $475,000 over five years.
The township did hire the city for six months to man its north side station in 2021, but, once that deal expired, the township resumed full operations.
Since the property tax requests failed, township trustees, along with township Fire Chief Mark Hansen, have been unable to agree on a path forward and a detailed plan for restructuring the department has still not been presented, Skibbe said.
Some on the board favor trying to move forward with the idea of forming a fire authority made up of the township and other nearby municipalities. However, earlier this year, the township sent out letters seeking interest from other potential partners, but little correspondence was received in return.
Other options could include running emergency medical service response solely with paid on-call responders and not having full-time staff -- similar to what other, smaller townships do -- or consolidation.
In other business
The Alpena Township Board of Trustees on Monday also:
* went into closed session for more than an hour to discuss ongoing litigation with Alpena over water and sewer rates. The board took no action when it returned to open session.