The big aerial ladder truck that local fire departments have had in their inventory for the past four years will be returned to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, which had been leasing the truck to local departments for $1 per year.

THIS AERIAL ladder truck being kept at the Suttons
Bay Bingham Fire and Rescue Department is being
returned to the Grand Traverse Band.

The GTB acquired the truck from the Traverse City Fire Department after the tribe pledged to pay that department $850,000 in "2-percent" casino revenues over four years. The Traverse City department purchased a new aerial ladder truck and other equipment with the tribal funding. The tribe then offered to lease the truck to the Suttons Bay Bingham Fire and Rescue Department for a nominal fee.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Suttons Bay-Bingham Fire & Rescue Authority Board on Feb. 12, Suttons Bay fire chief Bill Calhoun said the truck had been called into action twice in the last four years. Otherwise, the truck was occasionally put on display in parades and other community events.

Department administrator Gary McGhee acknowledged that there are very few tall buildings in Leelanau County, and that mobilizing the aerial ladder truck is labor-intensive compared to other, smaller pieces of equipment.

"It just wasn’t called for," McGhee said.

In addition, keeping fire department personnel trained on how to use the truck and its various devices – as well as maintaining and storing the truck in the fire hall – has been expensive, Calhoun said. Costs have been shared with the Leland and Leelanau Township fire departments, who also had use of the truck and routinely trained with it. Recently, the departments expended about $6,400 in maintenance items for the truck, Calhoun said.

Calhoun added that a new need had emerged. A requirement to replace a $23,000 pump on the aerial ladder truck had prompted him and fellow fire chiefs to recommend that the truck be taken out of their inventory and returned to the tribe. Calhoun said he had been in touch with tribal officials who indicated they would be willing to take it back.

In May 2006, tribal officials estimated the value of the aerial ladder truck at $150,000.

The administrator of the GTB Tribal Fire Department, Randy Stites, said that once the aerial ladder truck is returned to the tribe, they will seek an appraisal and attempt to sell the truck.

"And we have nowhere to house that truck," Stites added.

Two years ago, the Suttons Bay-Bingham Fire and Rescue Department identified a need for a brush truck and asked the tribe to provide some $107,000 in "2-percent" money. That request was denied, however. The tribe did fund a training program and a heart monitoring machine for the department during the "2-percent" payout cycle in August 2007, totaling around $11,000.

This year, the department asked the tribe to provide $55,358 of some $110,000 required to purchase a brush truck, but that request was denied as well.

In other business at last week’s meeting, the Fire and Rescue Authority board reviewed a monthly "response summary" for January. The department responded to 51 fire and emergency medical service calls in January. Of the 34 runs in Suttons Bay Township, six were in the Village of Suttons Bay, 13 were in Peshawbestown and 15 were elsewhere in Suttons Bay Township.

– By Eric Carlson