Do Scio Township voters think a second fire station is needed?

Some Scio Township residents are wondering about the ballot questions that will be before them this fall and why the fire department is in need of some additional help.

At the June 13 meeting of the Scio Township Board, a public hearing was held on the proposed Fire Protection Special Assessment. Township supervisor Will Hathaway said the board heard from several residents who had questions about the need for the increased assessment for the Fire Department.

This fall (Nov. 7), Scio Township said, “electors will consider whether to authorize an assessment of up to 3.75 mills ($3.75 on each $1,000 of taxable value) annually to defray the costs of providing fire protection and emergency medical services, including maintenance of buildings and acquisition of apparatus and equipment; and up to 0.75 mills ($0.75 on each $1,000 of taxable value) to defray the costs of purchasing property, constructing buildings, and providing apparatus and equipment for newly constructed buildings to provide fire protection and emergency medical services.”

To answer this question and get a better idea about what voters should know the Sun Times News (STN) reached to Scio Township Fire Chief Andrew Houde.

STN asked Houde, what
is the township asking with the assessment and how would the funding be used?

Houde said, “Scio is asking voters to approve 2 questions this fall, an operating assessment increase and a new capital assessment.”

“The capital assessment would be no more than .75 mill for up to 20 years which would allow Scio to build and equip a second fire station, as well as purchase property for the future,” he explained. “There is no plan or need now for a third station, but it would be prudent for us to plan for the future need now while there is property available to purchase as well as plan for the replacement of the Zeeb Road station when it reaches the end of its life in 20-30 years. The capital question is local question 2 on the ballot.”

He further explained, “The operating increase question would allow no more than 3.75 mills for 10 years to allow us to fully staff the Zeeb Road station with 4 firefighters and allow us to begin to add staffing to the Wagner station when it is built, if voters approve both assessment questions. This question would allow us to add staffing over the next 7-10 years until we have sufficient firefighters to staff both stations. This question is local question 1 on the ballot.”

Houde said, “One important point to note is that both questions have to be approved if we are to build and staff a second station. If the operating question passes but not the capital question, we would only be able to fully staff the Zeeb Road station, but not build a second station. If the operating question does not pass, there will be no change in the level of service provided.”

STN asked Houde what are the main reasons for a proposed increase.

“The main reasons for Scio requesting an increase is to be able to build and staff a second fire station on Township owned property on Wagner just south of Liberty,” he answered. “Scio Township commissioned a committee to research if improvements in fire protection were needed, and if to so, to make recommendations for those improvements. At the conclusion of that work the committee recommended that Scio Township build and staff a fire station. Several factors were reviewed, such as our response times, areas where we respond to frequently, and citizen and firefighter safety when making the recommendations.”

STN also asked Houde, what do you think the community should know about this?

“There is a well developed plan to implement these improvements, if voters approve both questions,” he said. “This plan would allow us to build a fire station on Wagner Road, which we estimate would reduce response times to about 40 percent of Scio Township, including the south east corner of the Township and areas towards the east side of the Township along Jackson and Wagner to Huron River Drive. We would be able to send adequate resources to calls that require more than 3 firefighters, including car accidents, fires, and other non-medical emergencies which make up 50 percent of our responses. Most medical calls would be able to be handled by a single station, leaving the other stations firefighters able to respond to a second call. Major incidents like building fires would still require the help of our neighbors as we often need 15-20 firefighters to handle these calls.”

He said, “Once completely implemented, we would have 1 fire engine staffed at each station, a rescue staffed at the Wagner station, and an officer in charge at the Zeeb station.”

A brief timeline to implementation is as follows, again, providing the township has voter approval:

2024: Hire 3 firefighters to fully staff Zeeb Rd, develop construction documents and bid out construction, secure financing

2025: break ground on building

2026 spring (?): hire 6 firefighters, open Wagner station

2027 on: hire 3-6 firefighters per year until we have both stations staffed-somewhere between 2029 and 2031

Houde said, “An important thing to note is that the operating assessment is not meant to be assessed at the full amount right away. It is designed to be assessed annually based on budgeted and approved need and only after a public hearing where the public would have input into expenditures for the next year. The rate would gradually increase over time as we add staffing. The operating question is meant to implement a 7-10 year plan of improvement which will bring us closer to national standards.”

The township has several resources that the voters can review for more information.

For info on the overall plan, the web address is https://www.sciotownship.org/community/fire-department/fire-services-expansion-sad and for information on the committee that made the recommendations the webpage is https://www.sciotownship.org/community/fire-services-guidance-committee

This graph is courtesy of Scio Township