After a successful six-month contract with the City of Alpena to provide fire protection, the Alpena Township Board of Trustees voted to reject a long term agreement by a vote of 3-4. The township board is hoping to rebuild the fire department at a significant cost to the taxpayers. So far they are having little success in hiring adequate staff. I feel that Alpena Township made a mistake by not contracting with Alpena City for our fire protection.

The rejected contract was for five years at a cost of $400,000 with two percent increase to a maximum cost of $475,000. If the average cost per year falls in the middle at $437,000, that means the service would cost the taxpayers $2,187,500 for five years.

The 2023 budget to run the fire department is $1,170,000 or $5,850,000 for five years. Now we need to consider the three mil increase on the ballot proposal of $1,134,000 per year per year for five years is $5,671,000. Combine $5,850,000 and $5,671,000 and you get $11,521,000. So why did our Alpena Township Board think it was a good idea to reject the city proposal? We could have had excellent fire protection for five years for $2,187,500 but now the township board is asking to us to pay $11,521,000.

GARY PARTEKA,

Alpena Township