North Webster Town Council Shoots Down Fire Territory Proposal
NORTH WEBSTER — North Webster Town Council shot down the hopes of the Tippecanoe Township Trustee and board for the formation of a fire territory at a special meeting held 4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27.
Council members David Waliczek and Dan Thystrup voted no while Council President Lisa Strombeck abstained.
Thinking they were attending an informational workshop, Chris Francis, Tippecanoe Township Trustee, and North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Fire Chief Jeremy Likens were surprised to find a full-blown meeting.
The township has been working for the past 10 years to solve the problem of not having enough staff to service the fire department and emergency medical services. There are eight full-time employees including the chief who are all cross-trained between the two departments. There are 11 part-time employees and a decreasing supply of volunteers. Twenty years ago the departments relied almost completely on volunteers.
Tippecanoe Township Board hired the consulting firm, Baker, Tilly, Virchow, Krause LLP, formerly H. J. Umbaugh & Associates to help them decide how to get more workers to fulfill the needs of the two departments for the least amount of money to the taxpayers. Another priority according to Francis and Likens is keeping the service local. Baker Tilly came back with the suggestion of forming a fire territory.
The township had tentatively scheduled three public hearings to be held with presentations by Baker Tilly before decisions were made. However, the quick reaction of the two members of the North Webster Town Council led the public hearings to be canceled.
Currently, the town of North Webster supplies $35,000 annually to the fire department and EMS. Township taxes support the rest of the budget.