So far I've told you I'm going to say something, then I told you what I'm going to talk about, but I haven't really said anything yet. I can hear it now: typical politician! Well, I'll kick off my substantive comments with probably one of the most pressing issues facing the township - the fire department.
The trustees are moving closer to voting on the issue of putting a capital levy on the November 2007 ballot. I can hear some people now - but you said no new taxes! I did, and I'm not yet convinced that our taxpayers can afford any more taxes. But there are positives to what is being looked at.
First, as any one who has looked at our facilities will agree, our fire stations are in bad shape and some of the equipment should have been replaced years ago. Routine maintenance has been deferred for years, in exchange for more bodies on trucks. The roof repair at Station 2 earlier this year that necessitated our firefighters to move to temporary quarters for a month has been evident for years. I know their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) equipment has not been tested in over 20 months (despite annual testing standards) because the 2006 budget was approved without money for testing included. I was not aware that the budget approved by the prior board did not include money for this testing because it was not brought to our attention until spring of 2007. Money is available in this year’s budget, and testing is scheduled for later this fall.
I believe it is bad management to forego maintenance of facilities and equipment in exchange for personnel because we can’t protect the lives of our fire fighters, residents, and visitors with equipment that may not be functional when it is needed. I am working hard to make sure that the fire budget has a solid balance of personnel and equipment/facilities, instead of over-emphasizing one at the cost of the other.
We have retained an architect to revise the fire station plans that were completed over 2 years ago when the township first considered a capital levy. We have scaled down the proposed buildings 30-40%, thus reducing the cost to the taxpayers. Incredible as it seems, the plans we are looking at will accommodate twice the manpower we are currently using at each of the stations to allow for potential future growth. And yet the plans from 2 years ago were larger! I have no idea what they planned to do with all of that space. Our community needs solid, efficient, productive facilities from which to operate the fire department, not monuments to government excess.
With scaling back the request for facilities and equipment from the excessive to the reasonable, I believe we are looking at a potential 20 year bond levy of around 0.75 mill. That is in comparison to the 1.1 mill permanent levy that was requested in May 2005. We are still working through final numbers, but I will continue to make sure that if we go to the voters for additional revenue, it will be under a prudent, efficient, and modest plan, not something that will fluff the egos of those involved at the expense of the taxpayers.
