Benton Township residents voice fire protection concerns

March 10--UNIONVILLE -- It's a rarity if many members of the public attend the monthly Benton Township board meeting at the trustee's office and town senior center.

Wednesday evening, more than 25 people did. And they had questions about the future of fire protection and emergency medical services.

The Benton Township Volunteer Fire Department has 10 volunteers trained to serve as both firefighters and EMTs. The group is governed by its own bylaws and is registered as a not-for-profit agency.

Benton Township owns all of the fire equipment, pays the insurance bills and has been paying its contract with Bloomington Township to meet extra firefighting and emergency medical service needs. This year's $89,117 contract is set to expire on Dec. 31.

It's unlikely that contract will be renewed for 2017, leaving Benton Township to either rely solely on its volunteer fire department or devise a new plan.

Benton Township will still be able to call on other departments for occasional assistance -- the Monroe County Fire Chiefs Association details a mutual-aid agreement for fire departments within the county.

Last week, Bloomington Township board members decided they no longer wanted to include Benton Township in the negotiations for a proposed Northern Monroe County Fire Protection Territory, which would now be financed by increased property taxes for the unincorporated areas of Bloomington Township and for all of Washington Township.

Once residents started asking about the future of emergency services, Benton board president Mary McInerney said it was her understanding that the contract with Bloomington Township will not be renewed.

"Because they don't like to be linked to this board in any way," she said. "Three thousand lives are in peril Jan. 1, 2017."

McInerney and a few members of the public blamed board secretary Brian Crouch for the failed fire territory negotiations.

"You have a right to be against it, but you sabotaged the process," McInerney told Crouch. "Brian, they never want you on their property again, they never want to be in a meeting with you."

Crouch -- in a letter dated Feb. 23 -- expressed distrust with Bloomington Township being named the "provider unit" in the proposed territory. The provider unit, as defined by state law, makes the financial decisions for the fire territory.

He also vowed to have Benton withdraw from the agreement after a year and collect the township's portion of the territory's tax levy to fund their own department. This process is also outlined in state law.

"When you play chess, you don't tell the person your next move. Clearly," said Sean McInerney, Mary McInerney's husband.

Helen Caves, a volunteer firefighter and president of the fire department's board, said she didn't think the fire territory was the best solution, but it was the only solution. They can't afford another option.

"It should have been allowed to go to a vote," Caves said. "We should have been trying to negotiate these points instead of bulldozing them. And it's really sad, because there were some good things that we could have worked out."

Crouch unveiled his vision of a future independent Benton Township Volunteer Fire Department and distributed a list of his ideas. He called the document a starting point and asked that discussion be tabled until next month's meeting.

Crouch said he wants a 21st century, professional fire chief, someone young who could recruit volunteers. This position would be paid with benefits at an estimate of $80,600 a year.

Another $44,000 could be spent on part-time firefighters, who would work for $20.56 an hour and a total of 2,160 hours a year. No part-time firefighter could work more than 29 hours a week.

The full-time chief, one part-time firefighter and volunteers would be assigned to work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Volunteers would be asked to cover overnight, weekend and holiday shifts.

Crouch's plans also include forming a safety board.

Crouch estimates the department could be funded with $125,000 -- $90,000 previously spent on fire protection contracts; $20,000 after amending a contract with Benton's volunteer fire department; and another $15,000 from pay cuts in township trustee and board member salaries.

He also suggests reallocating township funds toward a fire department, maintaining the minimum of savings in the township's rainy day fund, writing grants, asking B&B Water collect a fire fund charge, and setting up accounts on crowdfunding websites like www.gofundme.com.

"It's time now for Benton Township to stand on its own," Crouch said at the beginning of the discussion.

One resident said he was kind of relieved the township didn't have to join the fire territory, and that Benton should have started work 10 years ago on having an independent fire department.

Members of the volunteer fire department urged the public to help them recruit new volunteers. They especially need help finding volunteers to help cover daytime hours, when others are at work.

Of the 150 to 200 emergency runs the department handles a year, about 70 percent of those calls are medical emergencies.

Caves said the volunteer department has considered taking trained EMTs, who would only go on medical runs and not firefighting calls.

"This is scary for all of us," said Caves, who has served as a volunteer firefighter for 16 years.

"And it only takes one person to die. One. Because someone couldn't get there."

For more information about the Benton Township Volunteer Fire Department go to its website at www.bentontownshipfire.com or call 812-332-2637.

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