The City of Wayland has been
asked by the Yankee Springs Township Board to provide cost estimates for providing fire services to the township.
City Manager Mike Selden said the township has submitted a request for proposal, prompting city officials to begin the process of providing data and searching for options.
There has been talk recently of creating a fire district to include the City of Wayland, Wayland Township, Leighton Township, Martin Township and Hopkins Township. There was a special meeting last August to discuss the possibilities.
The city now has an agreement to provide fire service to Wayland Township and in exchange for city residents being able to use Elmwood Cemetery and on a per fire basis. If Yankee Springs comes on board, that would make three entities served by the Wayland Fire Department.
Yankee Springs now is being served by Thornapple Township Emergency Services.
Hopkins Township Fire Department in addition already serves Watson and Monterey townships as well. Leighton has its own fire department and has been willing to talk, but that’s about all thus far. The Leighton Fire Department may expand inside the township hall facility if the township decides to move into a new building adjacent to the Leighton Township Library.
Martin Township was approached, but declined to get involved.
The Wayland City Council and Leighton Township Board two years ago decided to spend $3,000 in casino revenue to do a study on the feasibility of creating a fire authority to serve a wider group of municipalities.
The Wayland City Council has submitted a grant application to fund a new public safety building in the industrial park on Reno Drive in continuing efforts to establish a fire district. The city’s application is for a Competitive Grant Assistance Program (CGAP) to create a fire board and to fund the construction of a public safety facility that would house the fire department, city police and Michigan State Police.
State police for a long time have been looking for a new home because their quarters at their more than 50-year-old site on North Main are cramped.
Proponents say the benefits could be economic and perhaps it could streamline services, but the negatives involve officials and their turf and the question of who’s in charge, and what to do with equipment?
