Peninsula Township MI Mulls Adding Third Fire Station

MAPLETON — Peninsula Township's northernmost residents could get a break on home insurance rates if the township fire department adds a proposed third station, department Chief Fred Gilstorff said.

A new tanker that could be in service by August also would cut down on distances from water sources, Gilstorff said. Both moves are part of the new chief's push to rebuild and improve the fire department, once in a precarious enough state to be getting extra help from Traverse City Fire Department.

"So we're going to work hard to figure out a solution, myself as well as the township board," Gilstorff said.

Insurance Services Office Ratings that quantify a fire department's coverage for a given area are as low as they can be for the peninsula's northern tip, Gilstorff said. That's because they're more than a five-mile drive from the closest fire department.

The idea for now is to build an unmanned station housing a single fire engine in the Old Mission area, Gilstorff said. One possibility would be to demolish a township-owned building by Hazerot Beach and replace it with a pole barn. Renovating the existing structure, near the Traverse Street and Swaney Road intersection, could cost more than demolition and new construction.

Department firefighters and EMTs live in the Old Mission area and could get to the garage quickly, Gilstorff said. The department eventually could add basic emergency medical response equipment to the vehicle.

Meeting documents show initial estimates put the cost of a 30 foot-by-40 foot garage at $83,200, including demolition and professional services.

Township Supervisor Rob Manigold said the building near Hazerot Beach is in a spot where locals voiced congestion concerns. So township trustees at a recent meeting asked Gilstorff to get more information about the proposal.

"When we get more information together for the people, then we'll have a public hearing and make some decisions," he said.

The department should get some new equipment this year as well. Gilstorff said a fire engine ordered late last year should arrive by the first of May. Financing documents show the township will pay $599,650 for the vehicle over 10 years.

He'll also look for bids for a new tanker truck, one that would carry 3,000 gallons of water versus the department's current tankers' capacity of 2,000, he said. A new tanker also could withdraw water from many more places in the township — preliminary estimates show 30 or 40 new spots versus the current handful, he said.

More capacity means fewer runs between water sources and an active fire, Gilstorff said. And more water withdrawal points means shorter trips, and that any homes near these withdrawal points should get better fire protection ratings, he said.

The new tanker would cost roughly $350,000, Gilstorff said. He'll have bids back by March 14, and the new tanker could be delivered by as early as July.

New vehicles come shortly after the department's six unionized full-timers inked a contract with the township. Department Lt. Brent Strom represented the employees during negotiations and said the new five-year contract was finalized several days ago.

The township also extended union employees' previous contract to end on March 31, when the township's budget year ends, Strom said.

The contract, which starts April 1 and expires March 31, 2023, includes 2.5 percent raises for the first two years and 2 percent raises for the third through fifth, documents show. The residency radius also increased to cover all of Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Missaukee and Wexford counties.

Manigold said the previous 25-mile radius was too restricting to recruit paramedics with advanced life support training.

Strom, Gilstorff and Manigold all expressed satisfaction with the new contract. Manigold said it's within the township's budget, Gilstorff said the long term makes for predictability and Strom said the raises make the department wages competitive enough to hire and keep firefighters.

"It was kind of how can we do best in building the department, and how can we stay within this budget," Manigold said.

The department faced uncertainty after former fire Chief Steve Ronk left in February 2016 after a previous township board rebuffed his efforts to grow the department. Three of five township fire board members cited the same reasons when they resigned shortly after, and the department's full-time personnel voted to unionize in April of that year.

Traverse City firefighters responded to extra calls beyond the usual mutual aid they provide from March 2016 to May 2018.

Township trustees hired Gilstorff in October 2017, and in March of that year they approved a contract with the union. They also dissolved the fire board and assigned its duties to the board of trustees in February 2017.

Both of the department's stations are staffed, its ranks have grown and Gilstorff said the department provides Advanced Life Support as of October 2018.

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