4 Charter Township of Alpena Fire Department Facts Facts and information forthe township board and our citizens as to what decisions it will have to make ifthe millage vote fails or passes. A special meeting would stat the process. 2007 The Cty of Alpena and Alpena Township hired Rehmann Robson, Certified Public Accountants to do an ‘Analysis offre department consolidation options for the two governments. Near the end of the 39 page ‘document t states ~As outlined in Section 3, the issues related to fire department consoldation would present a challenge to the two communities. However, fiscal conditions, future service needs and common sense all pint to the need to follow this course. 2016 Master plan survey -78 said we should collaborate with other units of governments for our fire department. | watched a Zoom meeting in the summer 2020 about what local governments should be considering. The four speakers were the presidents of the Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Township Association, and a Michigan State University Economist. They sald governments should be working together to combine services to cut costs because our tax base and state revenue sharing could be reduced. Fire Department History The Fire Department started inthe mid 1950's funded by the general fund. ‘The fist millage for the Fire Department passed in 1998 for 1 mill for 10 years In. 2005 the township board added medical first responder calls and the cals increased from °75 to 850 per year, In November 2006, 2 mils for 6 years withthe funds raised to be used for Township Fire Department medical first eesponder calls. It failed. The Fire Department 1.0 millage renewed in 2008 for another 10 years ending in 2018. The Fire Department started doing non-emergency transfers around 2012. The board dropped transfers in 2021. The board authorized a professional audit to see if the transfers were profitable or not It was canceled by the auditor when he couldn't get the information required to complete the audit In 2018 the 1.0 Fire Department milage renewed plus aS mill for a combined operating millage of 1.5 mill ‘ending in 2028 and a new 0.65 millage passed for equipment for 5 years ending in 2023. Unt 1991 the Supervisor could also be the Fire Chief. That year the supervizor was removed as fire chief and 3 Fire Administrator was appointed. From 1991 until 2015 our Fire Department did not have a Chief. The Fire ‘Administrator with the fulltime officers operated the Fire Department When the department had needs the Fire Administrator would bring them to the board.12015 the board hited a parttime Fire Chief and a part time Deputy Chief to replace fire Administrator. The Part time Fire Chief left in 2016 and the Deputy Chief became the Chief and in 2624 resigned. A fulltime Fire Chief was hired by the board with full benefits to rebuild the Fire Department. Hs package with benefits is, approximately $92,000. He chose to take a stipend instead ofthe health insurance or his package would be over $100,000. (Our Department is operated with 6 fultime officers, part time and paid on call intwo stations. From people With many years of fire department knowledge (one is our labor attorney) i is recommended to be @ ‘minimum of 9 fulltime and 13 fulltime would be the best. With only 6 fulltime there i a risk of excessive ‘overtime and causing fatigue to our firefighters. ‘As of October 350% of The Township General Fund contribution of $240,000 forthe Fire Department has been used Millage Information ‘My 2021 tex of 1.5 mills forthe fire department ending 2028 $194.00 ‘My 202 tex .646 mill fre equipment only ending 2023 - $84.00 ‘My 2021 15 mills for County Ambulance = 194.00 My 2021 taxes forthe FD and ambulance were - 3472.00 3 mill passage will add to my December 2022 taxes - ‘$449.00 If above passes My December 2022 tax ill for fre and ambulance willbe - ‘$921.00 Only other Township 2021 tax |had was Township Operation (General Fund) 1.01300 mills- $131.00 A millage would provide approximately $377,000.00 to the fire department for each mill requested. The present milage for 1.5 mils provides approximately $565,500 and expires at the end of 2028, The November 8, 2022 ballot isa millage of 3 mils for 6 years, 2022 thru 2027, The funds would be used for fire department operations and equipment raising approximately $1,134,359 the fst year levied. Fire Department Plan ‘sof today, there has not been a Fire Department Consulting Company plan presented to the board, nor any other options. & consulting company had conversation with the fire committee ard the committee decided it 0st too much and did not have enough time to get it finished before the election. When I discussed withthe board that we did not have a consulting firm involved | was told by a board member that insulted the professionals we have on the fre committee fora oftheir expertise. | was referring to their expertise in ‘operations offre departments. The fre committee members are all experts in thei field, but not all have the knowledge and information a consulting firm would provide ‘Some ofthe items the evaluation would provide ~ Total cost Number of personnel requiredTraining and other requirements Process to putit ll together How long it would take to get the new department up and running and be on its own Results for as many models the board would lke to evaluate and anything else needed, Ambulance Information ‘The Cty has a contract with the County to provide ambulance service to all the citizens in Alpena County. You {are paying 1.5 mils for this service separately from our fire department millages. Our FD is licensed as Medical First Responder and only allowed to do certain procedures when they arrive on the scene until the County Ambulance arives.f transporting is required only the County can transport. We sold one of our ambulances and the other 2 are waiting tobe sold as 2 new vehicles were ordered to fill that need but somehew never got ‘ordered by the supplier to support our Medical first Responder license, No Vote For The City Contract The agreement the board voted no last year with The City would have placed Advanced Life Suppert Ambulances in both our stations. ur citizens would not have had to wait for the ambulance to come. {An article in the Alpena News September 23, 2022 titled “Resources Available” with Chief Bll Forbush Provided information of what could be done and the logistics of knowing how to do it. The article stated our ‘tustees said The City could not man and operate the two township stations for the $400,000 fee that was Considered. Chief Forbush said “the fact remains the city fre department can provide improved se-vices to township residents for less money than the township can. He provided the information in that article, He also stated “as of now, there are no talks with the township about revisiting the contract. And he added he is unsure the Alpena Municipal Council is stil supportive ofthe idea after the township voted the intial agreement down in a four-to-three vote’ During a Township's fire workshop meeting September21, 2022 some trustees and employees ofthe township fire department speculated the city dida’t have enough employees to handle city, township and county duties Forbush said for a spel, the department was understaffed, but itis now well above the minimum staff requirements for the ambulance contract. He added “We don't have to add any people, we're not adding any ‘tucks, we're not adding anything, he said. We're ust strategically increasing our footprint and moving two "igs to different stations. "want to thank the Township firefighters and medical fist responders fr the service they provide to our community and citizens. They ae at risk every time they go ona cal The boards of trustees are elected to serve the township and our 9,100+ citizens using the resources and {funds they are provided, Norm Poli, Trustee October 24, 2022