Saline Council Discusses Future of Fire Services

After commissioning a report on local EMS and fire services in November of 2024, Saline City Council received a detailed presentation on possible options for the future of the city’s emergency services. According to Deputy City Manager Elle Cole, the “study looked at workload, response times, staffing, capital needs and governance structures.”

“To evaluate the governance options, we created a fire services governance evaluation matrix,” Cole said. “This matrix measured the weighted criteria, response times and coverage, governance clarity, fiscal sustainability, equity and cost sharing, intergovernmental collaboration, ease of transition, operational excellence, community impact and capital planning.”

City staff weighed four different options for the future of fire services in Saline. The first focused on creating a Fire Authority, which would be an independent fire service with its own charter and board. Another option included strengthening the current regional partnerships with the Saline Area Fire Department (SAFD) and other surrounding areas.

“While this could address some of our deficiencies, like maybe the funding formula or operational issues, it’s very limited in what is accomplished within the constraints of the interlocal agreement,” City Manager Dan Swallow said. “Certainly going to a full Fire Authority allows you to develop entire articles of incorporation and really address how the organization will function from the ground up.”

The two other options proposed were the dissolution of the SAFD, meaning Saline would contract with an external fire service, or maintaining the current system. Neither option received much vocal support from Council.

“I feel that if we were able to productively move forward with the current governance model, I think we would have been able to do that already,” councilmember Jenn Harmount said. “There seems to be some impasse that keeps us from moving forward.”
Mayor Brian Marl stated an intent to revisit the topic and potentially make a decision regarding Saline fire services at City Council’s upcoming Oct. 6 meeting. The full EMS and fire report can be found at salinemi.gov/_T2_R82.php.