Joint Town Informational Meeting – Notes 030326

Joint Town Informational Meeting Fire / EMS Service to the Towns of Ahnapee, Lincoln and Pierce March 3, 2026, 6:30 PM St. John’s Hall Rankin Wisconsin 1. Call to Order a. Introductions by Tom, thanks to the public i. Tom Stoller – Ahnapee Chairman ii. Jesse Jerabek – Lincoln Chairman iii. Brian Paplham – Pierce Chairman 2. Presentation of information to Town residents. a. PowerPoint presentation i. Purpose to inform residents of where we are and future of the systems of FIRE/EMS ii. Algoma was emailed proposed Intergovernmental agreement on July 23, 2025 1. Response from Algoma was Received August 14, 2025 2. Suggest that towns negotiate agreements and extend them to 5-10 years 3. Meeting with Algoma / Towns on August 28, 2025, to discuss proposal 4. No response from Algoma until February 26, 2026 a. Algoma indicated that they are considering the agreement. b. Towns look forward to working on the development and wish to have feedback from the communities. iii. Rescue costs increased 1. Personnel expenses necessitated a new ambulance 2. Ambulance costs $260,000.00. Scheduled replacement in 2028, but may stretch into 2029 due to lead time issues 3. Vehicles are on a 10-year replacement lifecycle a. This equates to a $52,000 yearly divided by the four communities iv. The towns, Kewaunee County and the three rescue services have begun discussions on EMS services. 1. This is to discuss staffing issues and explore cost saving opportunities that may exist. 2. Consolidation is not on the table as this may result in greater costs. 3. Ambulance calls: total 90 a. 457 – Algoma b. 57 – Ahnapee c. 21 – Pierce d. 12 – Lincoln e. 24 – Mutual Aid b. Service contract and new building – originally $1,000,000.00 reduced to $600,000.00 i. We would not own this building but rather it would be part of a service contract. ii. Algoma has applied for a $2,000,000.00 grant for the building from the State of Wisconsin. iii. Fire Squad 605 is due for a replacement – estimates at $700,000.00 1. 20 Total Fire Calls for the Towns: a. Ahnapee - 11 b. Pierce – 8 c. Lincoln – 1 d. Mutual aid – 11 e. Algoma - 31 c. New agreement would go into effect as of January 1, 2027. i. This agreement would provide towns with increased involvement and understanding the needs of Fire/EMS in our communities ii. Thanks for the service provided by Algoma Fire and the rescue. Each of the Town’s respect and applaud the efforts of the Algoma Fire/EMS team. 3. Public discussion with residents of our three towns. If necessary, each resident may be limited to two minutes. Please use proper decorum at all times and respect disparate opinions. a. Dan Haas – we love the fire and rescue services. Concern with us paying for a building that we don’t have any say. My biggest concern is paying for a building. b. Jesse- based upon $600,000. Ahnapee $300,000, Lincoln161,711.97 $133,950.66 c. Carol Wautlet – when do we know when they get a grant and will this reduce the $600,000. i. Tom – Grant was submitted for $2,000,000.00. Once the city receives information, I would imagine it would go up. ii. Grant is for the building. d. Gary Paape – if negotiations fail, do we have a backup plan? i. Tom – Not as yet in Ahnapee ii. Jesse – we do have a back up plan, but we would love to stay with Algoma. They give us the best service e. Gary Paape – if the towns decide to go with the City of Algoma – could this go as a special assessment. i. Tom – that is an option, each town would have to consider this and there are plusses and minuses f. Dennis Paul– These numbers are just estimates – whose to say these can’t go up. I moved out of the city due to the way that the city treated its people. i. Tom – we have a responsibility to provide fire and rescue to our constituents. ii. Jesse – if we had an intergovernmental agreement – we would have a voice. We haven’t had a meeting in over 6 months until last week. The three towns are working to get the best service and the best price. We are looking at a 5–10-year contract or an intergovernmental agreement. g. Atty Tyler Pluff – all towns under state statutes are responsible for providing ems/fire. Currently all the towns are covered with Algoma. These are service agreements that generally last 2-3 years. Either side can terminate the current contract in 2026 or move forward in 2027. i. Can pay this through the budget or do a fire protection charge through the Special charges. This requires a lowering of the levy limit by the same amount. ii. Towns are very unique, they can’t buy a building on their own, they need to look at doing this in a intergovernmental agreement or a longer contract. Agreement leaves the everyday operations to the Algoma Fire dept. The towns are looking at having a voice to determine spending. iii. Currently we are 9 months from an expiring contract. With Algoma being the only option with Ahnapee – unless you form your own department. iv. What we are looking for is feedback from the residents. h. Jesse – we have roughly 6 months until budget time – we need to ensure we have this done prior to budget time. i. Tom – we have owned equipment for some time. This is why the Ahnapee costs are different than the other towns. At the end of the lease the city and town will own ½ pumper and the tanker. This allows us to provide a very good service for our residents j. Rick Pollock – referendum in the city was turned down 3 times and still build the building. Was this even necessary? I’m done – i. Tom – this was a decision made by the city and we weren’t involved in the decision ii. Diana Pollock – we weren’t involved k. Nick Guillet - Jesse and Brian – can you weigh in on the Kewaunee and Luxemburg. Is there any comparative. i. Jesse – I do have them both. Now with the new process, Algoma is less than what it is in Luxemburg. Luxemburg and the town of Lincoln have the same voice in the intergovernmental agreement. No-one is against the fire department, but the spending control and voice is good. ii. Brian – Kewaunee numbers in comparison to Algoma iii. Guillet – is it a 50/50 split in Pierce? Yes 1. Jesse – we are split right down the middle, so we may be overpaying due to the Black Ash. 4. After public discussion, each town’s residents may be polled to help advise the boards direction going forward. Please note that this is advisory only. a. Do you believe our 3-town board should continue to work on an intergovernmental agreement. Provide the towns at a seat on the board regarding budget and capital expenditures (Algoma would have 4, each town would have 2 members and would require at least one from each entity agreeing to decisions). i. 38 affirmed b. Do you prefer going with set fees and working towards the fees having annual increases more defined. Town’s requesting from the city what the costs would be prior. Bills would be larger to assume the costs of equipment. (Similar to a garbage contract – costs are built into the agreement). i. O affirmed. c. Robert Gray – the second question – is there any reason to not have a service agreement (Intergovernmental agreement) d. Nick Guillet - Option 1 – would you envision similar contracts for times and rates – how would that lay out? i. Jesse – we work through a budget each year. If you want to increase this, the majority must approve of this. It’s set each year as a group. e. Todd Hauptauftereid – we have federal agencies that dictate staffing and equipment. Money and staff is a big issue. We are doing mutual aid throughout NE Wisconsin. EMS is the same. We need people to handle the costs. 5. Motion to Adjourn a. Tom – appreciate and thanks to all who showed up. Algoma provides excellent service b. Appreciation to the board for the work that has been put in. c. Jesse- we are stronger as a group than separate. We are here for the taxpayers. We need to spend wisely and hopefully can work this out Tom, Stoller – Town of Ahnapee Chair Jesse Jerabek – Town of Lincoln Chair Brian Paplham – Town of Pierce Chair