A nine-member Public Safety Advisory Committee appointed by the Dexter Township Board has recommended that the township establish a manned fire substation at the Multi-Lake Sewer Authority on North Territorial Road to improve fire response times in the township.

The committee said it would make no recommendation on how to staff the station, but at a meeting Tuesday night Chairman Dominic Treglia said if forced, we’d recommend a combined or regional fire department.”

Municipal leaders in the area have discussed the possibility of regional fire coverage for western Washtenaw County, but have taken no action.

Both the Chelsea Area Fire Authority and the Dexter Area Fire Department submitted proposals to provide fire protection for the township substation.

One benefit of the recommendation would be a more favorable Insurance rating, which could save residents of the township as much as 25 percent on their homeowner’s insurance costs, the committee's report states.

Currently, the township contracts with Putnam Township Fire Department to cover the Portage Lake area in the northeast section of the township, Chelsea Area Fire Authority (CAFA) to provide fire protection in the western portion of the township and Dexter Area Fire Department to cover the center and southeast portions of the township.

The township faces a Dec. 31 deadline to figure out what to do about the area covered by CAFA.

In May 2009, voters in the CAFA member municipality coverage area -Chelsea, Sylvan, Lima and Lyndon townships - approved a 1.8 mill tax levy for five years for fire protection. This changed the “cost basis” of future contracts for Dexter Township from a man-hour basis to a millage equivalent plus a per run charge, which means a 233-percent increase in projected costs for the township.

Subsequently, the CAFA board gave the township an extension through Dec. 31 while keeping the township’s contract costs at the status quo in order to give the township time to figure out what to do.

In 2010, Dexter Township is expected to pay $297,512 in fire costs, while in 2011, the projected costs total $497,201, or a 67-percent increase.

The report notes it would take a tax rate of 1.67 mills in 2011 to continue for fund fire protection at the same level. The current rate is 1.487 mills.

The report projects a rate of 2.02 mills would be needed by 2015 to continue service at the same level.

In April, the Dexter Township Board appointed the committee to provide a report and recommendations for both fire and police protection. The committee has not yet evaluated police protection in the township.

“Due to residential growth and changes in demographics over the years, the level of service (measured by response time) in some parts of the township has become a concern,” according to the draft report.

The committee recommended the township locate a substation in the former existing fire department building at the Multi-Lake Sewer Authority on North Territorial Road and man it round-the-clock.

Previously, CAFA and the Dexter Area Fire Department collaborated on an unmanned substation at the Multi-Lake Sewer Authority that was staffed by paid-on-call firefighters. But in 2006, that joint agreement ended when CAFA moved its fire apparatus from the substation. Dexter continues to maintain some apparatus there, but responses come from the main fire station in downtown Dexter.

According to the report, the highest number of incidents occurs in areas with either the highest concentration of population or along main roads such as North Territorial, Dexter-Pinckney, Dexter-Townhall and Hankerd roads.

The committee also looked at response times and found that CAFA’s average response time was 9.92 minutes, the Dexter Area Fire Department's was 7.22 minutes and Putnam’s was 8.28 minutes.

“The single most overriding factor affecting response time is simple geography,” the report states, and this equates to the locations of the responding fire stations. Establishing a manned substation in a central area of the township would reduce those response times.

The committee recommended a substation be established at Multi-Lakes as a temporary facility “pending further study,” and noted in its report that neighboring communities, Lyndon and Webster townships, would also benefit with lower response times from a manned substation in this location.

Net startup costs for a temporary sub-station at the building at 12088 North Territorial Road are estimated at about $47,000, according to the report.

The township board is expected to discuss both establishing a substation and which fire department will staff it on Nov. 29 at a special board meeting that begins at 7 p.m.

Lisa Allmendinger is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached by e-mail at lallmendinger@sbcglobal.net.

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