With the Kasson Township Board deciding Monday night to end its relationship with the Empire Fire and Rescue Department (see Sec. 2, Pg. 3), the Empire Township Board is now considering options for how to address the shortfall in revenue for the department.

At its meeting Tuesday, the Empire Township Board heard a report from supervisor William Bolton about Kasson’s decision. At Empire’s Annual Meeting March 29, township electors supported in a hand vote merging the township’s fire and rescue operations. Empire already contracts with Glen Arbor for full-time, Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance service. By adding two full-time firefighter/emergency medical technicians who will staff the Empire fire hall at all times to provide ambulance and fire response, Empire Township will pay Glen Arbor $690,000 for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The township plans to levy the full amount of a five-mill, 10-year property tax voters approved in 2000 to fund fire and rescue department operations. For 2007, the township levied 4.25-mills – the full amount of the tax after the required state Headlee amendment “rollback” on property taxes – and generated $669,084 in revenues for the department. The township also increased the Kasson Township cost for covering the western-most fifth of the township, from $40,000 to $75,000.

At its meeting Monday night, the Kasson Township Board learned its existing two-year contract with the Centerville-Solon Fire and Rescue Department covered all of the township. The Kasson board decided to not renew its annual agreement with Empire Township for fire and ambulance service.

Empire clerk Christine Neiswonger said the township has two options: talk with Glen Arbor Township fire officials and see if they will lower the contract cost now that they won’t be covering the western fifth of Kasson Township; or, if Glen Arbor won’t change the contact, the township would could cover the $75,000 shortfall from its fund balance in the fire operations fund.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” said Bolton about how the township will handle this change.

In related matters, Bolton said the Empire and Glen Arbor fire boards are working out the details of the contract that will combine the two townships’ fire and rescue departments into one, creating the Glen Lake Fire and Rescue Department and Glen Lake EMS. Bolton said once those details are worked out, the Township Board will hold a special meeting to consider and possibly adopt the contract.

The board also heard an update from Bolton on plans to convert the meeting room area of the Empire fire station to living quarters for the full-time firefighters/EMTs that will be at the station 24/7. The estimated cost for the conversion is still around $90,000, but Bolton said some necessary changes to proposed plans could make it higher. He said they will need to replace the two entry doors, which are aged and starting to rust. The township will be seeking bids on the work this month.

In other business during its half-hour meeting, the board:

• Unanimously approved a resolution offered by Neiswonger and supported by Bolton to delete the fire chief position from the township’s pension plan effective April 1, 2008 and no longer fund that position as well. Since the township’s fire and rescue department will no longer exist on its own, the township fire chief position is being eliminated.

• Unanimously approved putting an advertisement in the Leelanau Enterprise for a campground manager. The position has been open since October, when the former manager stepped down and agreed to be the assistant manager. The position pays $1,000 a month and includes a free site at the township’s campground off of County Road 677. Duties include registering campers and making sure all campground rules are followed. Anyone interested in the position should contact the township at (231) 326-5182.