By Ben Solis
Muskegon Chronicle
MUSKEGON, Mich. — The city of Muskegon has received and is reviewing a controversial proposal to contract fire service from Muskegon Heights, officials said recently.
But a vote on the deal, which calls for the city of Muskegon to dismantle its fire department and contract fire service from Muskegon Heights, is still more than a few months away, said Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson.
Peterson addressed the deal during an update to the Muskegon City Commission. He also updated the body on when they might get a chance to review the proposed contract, and on the status of negotiations between the city and the firefighters union.
The Muskegon Heights City Council voted to recommend an early working version of the proposal by a 5-2 margin June 11 during its regular meeting.
Now, an early draft of the plan will be sent to the Muskegon City Commission for discussion.
Staff received the proposal on June 11 and are in the process of combing over the fine details, Peterson said. They are expected to make an announcement about the deal within the next month, he added.
“Staff said they weren’t ready to make a recommendation yet as we continue to walk down that path, not run,” Peterson said at the June 12 commission meeting. “We’re not in a hurry to make a decision on this at all, but I think once it’s done, whatever path we take, I’d say that fiscally it puts us in a stronger position to move the city forward at least from where we were a year ago.”
The proposal would have Muskegon purchasing fire service from Muskegon Heights for a period of 10 years, with an average cost of $3.6 million for each of the first three years. That’s compared to the approximately $3.5 million the city currently pays for its own department.
But there would be more firefighters on duty working in the two cities.
If the final deal looks good for Muskegon, Peterson said he expects commissioners to receive a resolution to adopt the proposal by the end of 2018.
Peterson carved out a space for the fire service contract in the city’s recently adopted 2018-19 budget, assuming that the city would choose the contract over funding its own department.
“Staff has been working to ... right-size the fire department budget in a way that is sustainable long-term,” Peterson said. “The budget ... maintains the status quo we’ve seen over the last year. We’ll continue to fund the folks that are here and working today. We’ve had a bit of attrition over the past 12 months in the department.
“That gives us some flexibility if the commission decides if another option makes more sense. There’s funding in there for either an internal model or a contractual model.”
Peterson has been relatively quiet about the proposal since it was proposed to and approved by the Muskegon Heights City Council. He’s also been mum on updates about where the city stands on negotiations with the Muskegon firefighters union.
The union is currently bargaining with the city on its next contract, which expires at the end of 2018.
That silence was partially broken at the June 12 meeting.
“There’s been a lot of positive movement in the right direction despite some growing pains,” Peterson said. “There’s been some ugliness involved in it at certain times. But in staying the course, we’ve opened up opportunities for the community that didn’t exist a year ago.”
Chris Drake, president of Muskegon’s IAFF Local 370 union, has been similarly tight-lipped about negotiations and the proposal. However, Drake did make an appearance at the June 4 Muskegon Heights City Council work session where Muskegon Heights Fire Chief Christopher Dean and City Manager Jake Eckholm presented details of the proposal.
Drake gave some input at the meeting, but was not co-presenting with Dean and Eckholm.
Muskegon Commissioner Debra Warren said she was happy to hear about progress on both fronts, saying that misinformation and confusion was still running rampant about what’s next for Muskegon’s fire department.
Commissioner Ken Johnson wondered how the commission was going to be presented the proposal and if it would have a chance to offer its feedback before the proposal comes up for a vote at the end of the year.
“From an administrative standpoint, we haven’t talked a lot about it because we (just received the proposal),” Peterson said in response. “But it makes sense before we come to this body that we do our due diligence to have an understanding of what changes would they be open to or not open to, and what we feel is economically feasible or not feasible.”
Copyright 2018 Muskegon Chronicle