Council committees, Liberty Township consider fire/EMS contract

The finance and street and safety committees of the Hillsboro City Council have voted to recommend that a full session of council pass an emergency resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into agreements with six area townships for fire and EMS for 2012. In a separate meeting, the Liberty Township Board of Trustees has voted 3-0 to accept the proposed contract. 

The proposed contract is for $22 per person for each township for a one-year period. The contract will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012 and will end Dec. 31, 2012. 

The council committees held a joint session Monday evening at 6 p.m. at the Hillsboro fire station. The committees met in executive session for approximately 40 minutes for "security reason for discussing contracts," according to council member Dave Shoemaker. Committee members Shoemaker, Peter Pence and Brian Waller asked that they be joined in the session by council president Lee Koogler, Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis, Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings and Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Richard Giroux. 

Upon exiting executive session, the committees voted 3-0 to recommend that the full city council vote to authorize Hastings to enter into the contract with Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint and Washington townships for EMS and fire services. 

The council president has called a special session of council for Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Hillsboro Municipal Courtroom to consider the contract. 

In a separate session Monday, the trustees of Liberty Township held their regular February meeting at 7 p.m. at the township building. During the meeting, the trustees held extensive discussions on the contract and the proposed formation of a fire district that would include the six townships and the city of Hillsboro. The five remaining townships do not have meetings scheduled until March. 

The trustees said the proposal of a fire district was first brought up by the city during a meeting between the city and the townships Feb. 15.

The city has been negotiating with the townships on their contract for fire and EMS to be provided by Hillsboro Fire and Rescue. A point of contention has been how much the townships will pay per person for the services. In previous contracts, the townships did not pay for EMS, and it was included with the fire services. In December, council voted to extend the contract - which was up Dec. 31, 2011 - by 60 days in order to allow more time for negotiations. That extension expires March 1.

During council's Feb. 13 meeting, council voted 5-0 to authorize Hastings to enter into an agreement with area townships for fire and EMS coverage at $27 per person. 

Through their legal counsel, Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, the townships counter-offered a three-year contract at $22 per person for 2012, $23 per person for 2013 and $24 per person for 2014. The city subsequently offered the proposed contract at $22.

Following the city council's committee meetings Monday evening, Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis said that he and SSD Richard Giroux would have to review budget numbers, as the budget passed by the city earlier this month was based on the townships paying $27 per person instead of $22. 

"I'll have to get with (Giroux) to see where we want to make cuts," Lewis said. 

Giroux said that he doesn't anticipate that the overall budget will be impacted too much by the decrease from $27 to $22. He said that, most likely, funds will be redistributed with funds taken from the "street construction services to take care of the shortfall, with specific earmarks" such as "central licensing fees" and various state funds to fill in the loss for the streets. 

"Paving (streets) will still continue, and the shortfall will be covered," Giroux said.  

When asked why the city went with a 1-year contract instead of the multi-year that had been requested by the townships, Giroux said that, "One year is all that is needed. We're looking into the creation of a fire district, and it seems to be the consensus that one year is what it will take to get there. (The current proposed contract) should provide services the residents expect, and will provide the services in a responsible manner." 

During the township meeting, Trustees John McLaughlin, Steve Lerch and Jerry Williams, along with fiscal officer Jolene Walker, questioned their legal counsel Anneka Collins on the options for the contract and for the proposed fire district. 

Collins reviewed the recent history of the fire and EMS negotiations, saying that on Jan. 6, she had met with Hastings and Hillsboro Deputy Law Director Laura Curliss. Collins said that she asked for the city to provide certain figures regarding services to the townships, and the city responded on Feb. 10 with the proposed contract at $27. City council had a meeting on Feb. 13, and Collins said she provided each of the townships with a copy of the contract on Feb. 15. 

The townships then submitted the three-year counter-proposal. As a condition of that contract, Collins said, they asked that the current contract be extended 30-60 days to allow the townships time to meet and consider the contracts without the constraint of the March 1 deadline, and that the billing of insurance companies be done by a local company rather than by the city's current billing company MED3000.

"On Feb. 17, I hand-delivered the contract to Mayor Hastings, Laura Curliss and the president of council (Lee Koogler)," Collins said, "and I mailed a copy of the contract to each township. In response, I was given a contract at a rate of $22. The difference is that it is a 1-year contract, and it contains clause number eight, which has been added and was not in the original." 

That clause states that the trustees will seek alternatives for fire and EMS services outside of the Hillsboro contract. 

"They're calling it a 'dead-end' clause, if we want to go in a different direction altogether," Collins said. 

Collins said that was the city's way of indicating that the city would not negotiate for a longer time frame. 

The trustees said that unlike some of the other townships, which have locations that allow them to contract with other existing fire district, Liberty has no other choice but to go with Hillsboro or with the formation of a district. The trustees asked Collins several detailed questions regarding the formation of the district, how it would be funded and how it would impact township financing. Collins said that they were all good questions that needed to be answered, but there had only been one meeting on the possible formation of the district, and there were not solid answers yet. 

Collins said that it was her understanding was that if a district were formed, it would be up to each township board of trustees whether or not to join. McLaughlin asked if it would be put to a vote of the people. Collins said that the trustees would decide if they would join the district, and then the people would vote on whether or not they wanted to support it with a levy. Each township or city entering the district would then contribute all its fire/EMS resources - including any funds, equipment, buildings or other designated resources - to the district. The district would then be run by a nine-member board of trustees that would include a representative from each township. 

"But you have to have the money to support the district," McLaughlin said. 

Liberty Township has a 1.8-mill levy on the March 6 primary ballot. A fire levy did not pass in the November general election, so the township has no funds coming in during 2012 to go toward fire or EMS services. Walker said that there is currently approximately $520,000 in the fire reserve, which will take care of this year's expenses. However, if the current proposed contract goes through, the township will pay approximately $80,000 in fire/EMS to the city in 2012. 

Under the proposed $27-contract, Walker said the township would have paid approximately $98,000.

Collins told the trustees that they could vote to accept the contract, or they could reject it and negotiations would start over. 

Williams asked if there would be a meeting in the coming months with all the townships to discuss the district. Collins said they would actually need to be meeting "soon" because a levy for the district would need to be certified by the Highland County Board of Elections in August to appear on the November general election ballot. 

"No one has made a decision yet," Collins said. "The city is putting numbers together." 

Collins said that organizers are anticipating that the millage for the district would be low, since there is already equipment and buildings for the district to start with, and they would not have to start from scratch. 

The Lynchburg Area Joint Fire and Ambulance District has a 6-mill levy, she said. The Paint Creek Joint Fire and EMS District in the Greenfield area has a 5.5-mill levy. 

"Even if we would have had to pay $98,000, that is still cheaper than joining another district or starting our own fire station," Walker said, and the trustees voiced agreement. 

Lerch said, "Everyone wants us to get away from Hillsboro, but it's at a tremendous cost."

Collins noted that when they first began negotiating the contracts, the city asked for $40 per person in each township, but they were able to get it down to $22. 

"Twenty-two dollars is pretty darn good," Collins said. 

McLaughlin said he agreed that it was a good number. 

"What the residents want is stability," Collins said, and the trustees said they agreed. 

Walker said that if it was just a one-year contract, without a fire district, negotiations would begin again in less than three months. 

"The other townships need to know that this is it," McLaughlin said. 

Collins said, "They know." 

A non-public meeting with the city and one representative from each township has been scheduled for Tuesday regarding the proposed fire district. 

"It seems like every township needs to have a backup plan," McLaughlin said. 

Lerch said, "We're stuck because of where we're located." 

McLaughlin asked if they needed to put the matter on the contract to a vote Monday night. Collins said that they didn't have to accept it, and they could begin negotiating again, or they could pass it. 

The Liberty Township Board of Trustees voted 3-0 to accept the contract. 

Hamer, Jackson, New Market, Paint and Washington townships will each consider the contract during their March meetings.