Merging Fire Services a Hot Potato

Traverse City’s hottest topic got some attention yesterday when city and county officials discussed sharing fire services, potentially saving TC from going into the red by $500,000.

Although no agreement was cemented by the ad hoc committee, the city and county did dance around the “contract for service” issue, where the city would pay for county fire services, said Patrick J. Parker EFO, PEM, fire chief for the Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority.

“Combining the city fire department with Metro operationally makes sense, but it comes down to the costs of delivering a quality service and also what happens to the employees of both parties,” Parker said. “We are going to apply for [state] Economic Vitality Incentive Program funds to possibly fund a feasibility study of the potential merger/affiliation/contract for service.”

Also on the table yesterday: the possibility of the county fully taking over city fire operations, with the city joining the Grand Traverse Emergency Services Authority. County officials remained apprehensive, favoring a service contract instead.

“We are discussing that issue further as well as how we would operate within their city. Of course it comes down to price and the city is looking for savings,” Parker said. “It, however, impacts the current employees of the city fire department and they have been a vocal group, and are trying to round up citizen support [and have] the city make a bigger investment into the department.”

Keeping the city’s fire department open this year may prove financially painful for its citizens. Fire services are expected to cost $2.6 million, or about 19 percent of the city’s 2012-13 $13.7 million budget. But when the city commission reached into its pockets, it came up short by $500,000.

The city favors not so much a merger with Metro, but a complete takeover, meaning city firefighters would lose their jobs.

Or…perhaps not.

Garfield Township Supervisor Chuck Korn, who also serves on Metro's board, said the city's fire fighters would be "welcome to apply" for the four or five new full-time positions that would be needed to staff Traverse City's two stations.

City Fire Chief Jim Tuller said he has concerns with that plan.

"My concern is that we have a lot of highly trained personnel in the city that we've invested a lot of money into," he said, adding that to get rid of their jobs would be a "waste of resources."

The city isn’t the only party with concerns, said Parker.

“What about repairs to city fire trucks and stations? Metro will pay the first $5,000 of any capital spending, but what about the rest?” he said. “Also, every city firefighter is also a trained paramedic. Get rid of them, and how would EMS be handled in the city? And then there's the issue of fire inspections of businesses. The city doesn't have enough [fire inspectors] to meet demand. So, Metro would need to add a couple more inspectors.”

These questions, and others, will continue to be tossed back and forth for the next few months by the committee, which in addition to the fire chiefs includes township supervisors, city commissioners and the mayor.

TC Mayor Mike Estes, who says he “believes the potential movement towards one system would equally benefit the city and the townships,” also doesn’t expect the issue to go away anytime soon.

“From the onset I anticipated this would be a long process and I do not expect a solution soon,” he says.

According to a memo written to the city by the firefighters’ attorney Alison L. Paton, the city’s charter states that the "city shall have a fire department." According to Paton's interpretation, this means fire services must "be provided by a fire department belonging to the city and under the city’s exclusive control."

In other words, expect a fight.