By Mike Johnson
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
VERNON, Wis. — A consultant hired by the town to review fire and rescue services did not recommend keeping the joint Big Bend-Vernon department and says Vernon’s best option is to create its own department to then try providing services to Big Bend through a contract.
If Big Bend is unwilling, the town’s second best option is to go it alone, according to the report by McGrath Consulting Group Inc., which specializes in analyzing emergency services.
The Town Board hired McGrath at a cost of about $25,000 to review fire department options in the face of the looming breakup of the Big Bend-Vernon Fire Department.
The joint department, in operation since 1963, is set to dissolve at the end of the year because the two Waukesha County municipalities could not agree on an operating budget for 2010.
In December, when board members decided to proceed with dissolving the department, they had been upset over what they said were unapproved legal fees involving the Fire Department and not being informed by Big Bend of discussions about possibly merging the joint department with another firefighting agency.
In its report, McGrath says the governance structure of the joint fire department is one of its major problems. Under the agreement that set up the joint department, four boards — the village, town, Fire Board and Fire Commission — have a say in the department.
“The consultants would suggest that this governance structure is a model for failure for any fire chief,” the report says.
“The current model of governance makes it very difficult for the fire department to gain the necessary approval to operate the fire department.
To add to this multi-level bureaucracy, the history has been that the town and village have not agreed on many non-fire department items; as such, the fire department becomes another pawn in the strained relations between the two communities — thus stagnating any progress,” the report says.
By creating its own department, the town would have the “ability to make decisions regarding fire and EMS services without having to gain the approval of other communities that may or may not have the same interest,” the report states.
If Vernon creates its own department and provides services under contract to Big Bend, the costs would remain about the same as the existing joint department and avoid duplication of services, equipment, buildings and personnel, the report says.
The report was presented to the Town Board at a meeting this week. The board is scheduled to discuss the report at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Town Chairman Fred Michalek said Thursday that he wants more time to review the 177-page report before commenting.
Although the report recommends Vernon create its own department, Michalek said he isn’t totally dismissing the idea of a joint department.
But for that to occur, the inter-municipal agreement between Big Bend and Vernon that created the joint department would have to be changed, Michalek said. That would mean changes to the department’s funding formula.
Under the formula, which incorporates property values, number of residents and number of calls to each community, Vernon provides 83.3% and Big Bend 16.7% of the funding for the department.
Big Bend Village President James Soneberg said last week that the village is moving forward with creating its own fire department.
It has hired about 25 people for the department and is interviewing applicants for fire chief.
He said the village believes it can operate its own department for about $135,000 a year, about the same cost to the village as the joint department.
If Vernon were to approach the village about contracting for fire and rescue services, Soneberg said, the village would consider the proposal.
However, he noted that time is running out.
“We are at the point of where we have to have our own department. We can’t rely on the Town of Vernon to be ready come January 1,” Soneberg said.
Copyright 2010 Journal Sentinel Inc.