News Photo by Julie Riddle Firefighters douse a fire on Long Rapids Road that destroyed personal belongings and damaged a boat, but did not spread to a nearby residence.

ALPENA — There is currently no plan on how to properly fund the Alpena Township Fire Department or what services could be cut should a proposed tax increase be denied during the November election.

The millage request was already defeated by voters in August.

At a special workshop Wednesday, little progress was made to develop a plan, decide a budget amount for the fire department should the proposal fail, and what types of services the township provides now, could be scrapped due to a lack of funding.

Among the ideas pitched but not discussed in detail, were partnering with regional partners to form a fire authority, running as a volunteer or paid-on-call department, cutting current services, contracting with someone to help operate the department, or some type of mix of all of the above.

Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said with election day approaching, the township needs to have a backup plan, should the tax request fail. He said not doing so would be irresponsible and a threat to public safety.

“We don’t want to get caught standing with our hands in our pockets should the voters turn down the request,” Skibbe said. “We need to circle the wagons and have a plan because that is our responsibility.”

The township said the tax is needed to fully staff, equip, and maintain the department, as well as improve the two stations.

The six-year proposal, which seeks a 3-mill tax increase that would cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $150 a year and raise about $1.1 million a year to fund operations and equipment at the Alpena Township Fire Department, was voted down during the August primary election by a vote of 1,446 to 1,191.

Township property owners already pay 1.5 mills — about $75 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house — for firefighting operations and will pay that tax through 2027. Another 0.65-mill tax for firefighting equipment — costing the owner of a $100,000 house about $32.50 per year — ends at the end of the year.

Last year, the township negotiated a contract with the Alpena Fire Department that would have had the city handling emergency response calls for the township. The contract, however, was defeated in a four-to-three vote.

Because of a staffing shortage the city did manage the north side station for about six months.

The township would have paid the city $400,000 a year and, after three years, a 2% increase of that payment would have kicked in until it hit a $475,000 a year cap. That option was discussed periodically on Wednesday, but it is unknown if the city would reconsider the idea or if the same contract terms and costs would apply if the township were to reconsider the proposal.

Trustee Steve Lappan and Fire Chief Mark Hansen questioned the city’s budget that was used in the proposed contract. Lappan said if the township can’t pay for fire operations with the $1.5 million it the department uses now, then he doesn’t see how the city could for more than $1 million less.

“They can’t,” he said.

For an issue as important as the future of the fire department, there were no residents who attended in person, or online. Many fire department employees did attend and took up a brunt of the time making comment, sharing ideas and concerns, and debating what services should be saved or possibly reduced.

Overall, there was little discussion between the trustees on what the path forward could look like if the millage fails, and instead, focused on what needs to be done to convince voters to support the tax proposal.

Trustee Cash Kroll told the fire department staff that whether the millage fails or not, there will be changes. If the millage passes, services could be expanded, if it fails, then tougher decisions will have to be made.

Kroll made clear however, the general fund would not be able to sustain large allocations to fire and EMS operations.

“We can’t continue to funnel money into the fire department the way we used to, but I’m not saying the board won’t contribute anything,” he said. “The cost of everything has gone up for all of our departments, so the fire department won’t look the same no matter what happens with the millage.”

Other service cuts could include limiting the number of response calls for people who need lift assist after falling and possibly fewer runs to long-term care facilities. Reducing the hours of department operations and those employee’s hours could also be in the cards.