Fire and rescue departments in Leelanau County may be a long way from overcoming all of the challenges they face - but representatives of 10 of the county's 11 townships appeared interested in stepping forward together in that direction during a county-sponsored meeting last week.

Township supervisors, emergency services chiefs and about a dozen other local officials gathered in Leland on Nov. 29 for the first in a series of meetings designed to focus on improving fire and rescue service in the county through increased intergovernmental cooperation.

The meeting was facilitated by Michigan State University Extension educator John Amrhein, who also facilitated a Sept. 5 “Intergovernmental Cooperation Summit” during which several groups were formed to consider various ways local units of government can work together more effectively. The group with the largest membership – and the highest level of interest – was the fire and emergency medical services group.

In beginning the meeting, Amrhein said he hoped to keep the discussion focused on “value for the citizens” of Leelanau County rather than simply on the problems facing local governments and emergency services departments. He asked participants to consider how they might design fire and rescue service for Leelanau County “from scratch” rather than from the perspectives of their individual departments.

Individual departments in Leelanau County have had their share of issues with each other lately.

Effective Dec. 1, the Glen Arbor Fire and Rescue Department ceased sending its fulltime, professional staff into the Solon-Centerville Fire and Rescue Department’s area of responsibility. The change came as the result of a disparity between the abilities of the two departments to support each other. Glen Arbor citizens pay for 24/7 Advanced Life Support ambulance service and a full staff of professionals manning their fire hall.

Solon/Centerville Fire and Rescue, meanwhile, has one of the lowest operating budgets in the county and, until recently, employed only one “fulltime equivalent” professional on staff.

Glen Arbor’s issues with Solon/Centerville remained unresolved at last week’s meeting and were barely even discussed.

Similarly, the issue of payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) flowing from the National Park Service to Leelanau County – another sore point among local municipalities – also remained on the back burner at last week’s discussion. Townships that provide fire and rescue service within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore – predominantly the Glen Arbor – are looking for a bigger share of the PILT money than they are currently receiving through the county.

Meanwhile, the Empire Fire Department recently inked a deal to provide fire protection service to neighboring Kasson Township.

Tim Stein, Cleveland Township supervisor, said he found last week’s meeting to be very informative. He was looking forward to seeing some progress made.

“Naturally, I’m approaching this whole issue as a supervisor whose township does not have its own department, but contracts for services from Solon/Centerville,” Stein said.

The provision of fire and rescue services for Cleveland Township residents is the largest single item in the township’s budget. Last year, the Cleveland voters approved a millage to help pay for increasingly expensive fire and rescue services from Solon/Centerville.

“One key issue that I picked up at the meeting is that it may be useful to keep a discussion of emergency medical services separate from fire services, “ Stein said. “There are so many more ambulance runs than fire runs that it makes sense to consider these issues separately.”

Glen Arbor Township supervisor John Soderholm said that he, too, was encouraged by last week’s meeting, calling it “a start.”

“I was especially pleased with the turnout and the willingness of everyone to talk and evaluate opportunities,” Soderholm said. “Our next task will be to develop a general understanding of the levels of service that can be provided in Leelanau County, and learn more about the kinds of performance standards that should be applied.”

During the meeting, participants agreed that they should begin working together by holding at least two additional meetings on various topics in the future, eventually leading to a specific set of recommendations about which direction Leelanau County should head in managing its fire and rescue services.

Another meeting to be scheduled for sometime in January will include talks from several outside fire and rescue experts about the various “quality standards” that can be applied to fire and rescue departments – for example, detailed definitions of “Advanced Life Support” and “Basic Life Support” as well as response time expectations.

Then, participants will take a closer look at what assets are already available in Leelanau County in terms of personnel and equipment; and analyze data about how many fire and rescue runs of which types are being made throughout the county.

Finally, members of the group will decide which direction they believe the county should head. In the meantime throughout the process, fire and rescue chiefs will communicate with rank and file members of their departments and seek their input and suggestions.

County administrator David Gill said he would work with county Emergency Service director Tom Skowronski to pull together data that will be studied by participants at a meeting to be scheduled sometime next month. Amrhein said he would continue to be available to facilitate future sessions, with his salary being paid through Michigan State University.