Local townships, fire departments ‘blindsided’ by pager costs

Equipment not covered under 911 millage

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners discussed funding assistance requests by local fire department for the purchase of new pagers at an Executive Committee meeting Wednesday morning. The conversation was initiated by a correspondence from Fabius Township Board Trustee Dan Wilkins to St. Joseph County Emergency-911 Central Dispatch Director Dennis Brandenburg. In his correspondence, Wilkins inquired whether funding was available for the purchase as part of a larger investment in new dispatch equipment.

Park Township Acting Supervisor Ed English and Park Township Trustee Mike Kinne spoke to the commissioners about the pagers. At issue is a one-quarter-mill levy request by St. Joseph County Central Dispatch to fund the purchase of new dispatch equipment that was passed by the electorate in May 2018. 

English and Kinne said Wednesday that the millage was broad enough in scope it should have included the purchase of pagers by Central Dispatch for fire departments as part of the new equipment system. Kinne said the fact that cities, villages, and townships would have to pay for pagers separately “kind of blindsided us.” 

Kinne said, “We’ve had to fight to get enough radios, and now we’re looking at a $16,000 bill for pagers.” He said literature on the millage didn’t call out radios or pagers, but just said it covered “equipment,” and told commissioners it was “disingenuous not to pay for everything.” He said he hopes the new system is better than the old one, “but everything was included” in the previous system.

Another letter to the commissioners from White Pigeon Fire Chief Tyler Royce said the pager purchase would cost his department $25,000. Brandenburg said he didn’t know where Royce’s figure came from, but at his own price estimate of around $580 per pager, the cost to White Pigeon would be closer to $14,000. Kinne said Brandenburg’s estimates were likely too low, and that for Fabius-Park Fire Department (FPFD) the cost could be “easily $20,000” once spare pagers, necessary accessories like chargers and antennas, and setup fees were included.

Brandenburg said even some radios were excluded from the millage budget. He said fire chiefs were told the millage would not cover pagers when the millage was being discussed, and that the chiefs were “told they needed to start budgeting for pagers.” Brandenburg told the executive committee Wednesday he had this particular conversation repeatedly over the course of the five years he was planning the equipment upgrades.

The millage funds are already committed to other equipment, with a budget that is “as lean as we can go at this point,” Brandenburg said. Having discussed the issue with County Finance Director Angie Steinman, he said there is not enough money to pay for pagers. County Administrator Teresa Doehring said, “this is quite a substantial project with a high price tag. We knew it would be tight even with the millage increase,” and that it would have a slim margin. “We knew that, and we tried to budget conservatively,” she said.

Doehring said, “with a project this size, the county is better off for it. We’re going to continue to do this. I understand the perspective of the fire departments, but at some point it was assumed folks were going to have to chip in. I know that isn’t a popular standpoint, but it is an appropriate next step.” Commission Chair Dennis Allen agreed with Doehring, stating, “the word ‘pagers’ was never part of that in anything I read, and they do have a cost.”

Kinne said the expense was “putting a lot of townships and departments who are already under a crunch under a bigger crunch.” Commissioner Kathy Pangle inquired whether there were grant funds available to help the fire departments. Brandenburg said he passed County Grant Administrator James Hissong’s contact information along to the fire chiefs, but that none reached out to his knowledge. “There are fire grants that only fire departments can apply for,” Brandenburg said. “The money is there, and (Hissong) is more than happy to do the research and paperwork for them, but so far, they haven’t contacted him.” 

English said, “I do know (Hissong). I’ve been on the Fire Board for 12 years. We’ve done grant applications, and never gotten one. I’m not holding my breath.” He said he would do research on grants for the commission’s next meeting but said other townships will not be happy. “This issue is not done,” he said.

Face-to-Face Meetings to Resume in October

Commissioners agreed Wednesday morning to begin holding regular meetings face-to-face at the County Courthouse again starting next month. Doehring said the meeting chamber has the space “to socially distance up to about 35 folks” with some changes in layout and procedure. The commissioners will have to space out further, and all attendees will have to wear masks. The public will also be screened with temperature as they enter.

Information Technology Director Justin Bainbridge said it would not be significantly difficult to continue to live stream the meetings on the internet for those who need it, since “some equipment will be used in the same room for streaming jury trials.” He said he would work to provide the best possible camera coverage of the space without having moving cameras, and that additional microphones could be necessary.

Pangle asked if the commission currently pays for its Zoom meetings. Bainbridge said the fees are significantly offset by the fact that commissioners are currently not receiving reimbursement costs for attending in-person meetings, so the cost equates to about $1,000 for the year. He is waiting on grants for possible reimbursement of that figure, and said that even as more in-person activities resume, the county “might even maintain its (Zoom) accounts because it has facilitated a lot of things we couldn’t do in the past.”

Commissioner Daniel Czajkowski said that with the mileage and other reimbursements, along with the fact that the Zoom fees are paid anyway, “it would behoove us to continue Executive Committee meetings on Zoom” and hold regular meetings at the Courthouse. Other commissioners supported Czajkowski’s observation, and agreed to keep holding Executive Committee meetings on Zoom but to commence face-to-face proceedings with the October 6 regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

Commissioners to Vote on Early Retirement Offer Continuation

Over the last three years, Doehring said eligible employees have had available to them an early retirement incentive offer. She said that she did not plan to continue the program last year “because it loses its gusto” with repetition, but due to the county’s ongoing financial shortfalls from the pandemic shutdown and recession, she “wanted to give staff that option.” Having an incentive program, she said, can help the retirement process “go smoother and quicker.”

Under the program, retirees could receive a lump sum payment along with an annual contribution to a health savings plan. That contribution started at $6,000 but decreased to $4,500 last year. Doehring said that in order to ensure people step up to participate in the program, “it might behoove us to sweeten that pot a little more and go back to the $6,000 contribution.” Doehring asked commissioners to give her a forma instruction on the matter, and she will negotiate the final terms of the offer with the employee unions. 

Doehring said department heads would likely want to refill the positions once people take the retirement option, but said “we can have that conversation, maybe work around that.” She said there are 20 positions filled by people who are currently eligible for the program. “The first year we did it, we didn’t fill several positions, and saved some money,” Doehring said. “Even if we fill positions, it will be cheaper” because the county would lose the legacy costs associated with long-term employees.

Allen said “we do lose experience” with retirements, but Doehring said she anticipates “this being the last year we do this unless something more dramatic than a pandemic happens.” Czajkowski agreed that the extension of the program was a good idea due to this year’s “special circumstances.”

Public Hearing Set to Proceed Next Tuesday

A Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program grant, funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, was awarded to the county earlier this summer. Hissong first presented it to commissioners at a previous Executive Committee meeting. 

At that time, commissioners scheduled a public hearing for the purpose of formally accepting and budgeting the funds. That hearing will take place during next week’s regular Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, September 15. The total award amount is $217,975, and goes toward offsetting a variety of expenses incurred from the ongoing pandemic response.

Dave Vago is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.