|
News
BIRCHWOOD FOUR CORNERS EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT (BFCESD)
January 1, 2008 the Town of Cedar Lake joined with five other Towns
(Birchwood, Wilson, Edgewater, Long Lake and Doyle) and the Village
of Birchwood to form the BFCESD. The BFCESD provides fire protection
for all of the member municipalities and ambulance service for all
but Doyle and one half of both Long Lake and Cedar Lake.
The BFCESD is a newly created government entity whose sole purpose
is to provide emergency services for its members. The Birchwood
Volunteer Fire Department and Birchwood Ambulance Service both
report to the District. Each Town and the Village have a
commissioner and the seven commissioners make up the Board for the
Birchwood Four Corners Emergency Services District.
Previously the six Towns had contracted with the Village of
Birchwood for their fire and ambulance service and the Village of
Birchwood Board made all decisions regarding fire and ambulance
service.
For many years the Village had an advisory group made up of all the
contracted Towns who gave opinions on budget and coverage issues,
but did not have any authority. The Village Board frequently found
itself in a difficult position, elected to serve the Village but
voting on emergency services that affected not only the Village but
six other Towns. In 2007 the advisory group began having discussions
about forming a emergency services district that would be singularly
focused on public safety. Art Johnson, a Village Board member, had
previously been involved in a fire district and was able to give
some helpful insight into the benefits of forming a District. After
several months of discussions and help from each of the Towns and
the Village incorporation papers were developed and resolutions
passed by each of the member entities endorsing the BFCESD.
While services should remain the same and the Birchwood Volunteer
Fire Department and the Birchwood Ambulance Service have not
changed, there are several potential benefits to the formation of
the BFCESD. First when decisions need to be made about emergency
services they are made at the monthly BFCESD meetings and they are
the only thing on the agenda. Each Town and the Village have one
vote and the only issues that are dealt with are those of Public
Safety as handled by the BFCESD. The next area is the potential to
qualify for more grant money as a District that includes six Towns,
one Village and includes four different Counties.
In today’s environment, intergovernmental cooperation is encouraged
and favored by many of the groups looking at grant requests. In
addition our composition may qualify for more types of grants
including those that are given for the purchase of land and
buildings. Each of the member entities is in the far corner of their
respective County and quite a ways from County evacuation shelters.
We will be pursuing the building of a new Fire/Ambulance building
that would include facilities for a evacuation shelter providing we
can get most of th funding for it through grants.
The BFCESD meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6 pm. Starting in
January and every other month the meeting is at the Birchwood
Village Hall. Beginning in February at the Town of Birchwood, every
other month the meeting is held in one of the Towns with April -
Cedar Lake, June - Doyle, August - Edgewater, October - Long Lake
and December - Wilson.
The mailing address for the BFCESD is: P O Box 417
Birchwood, WI 54817
The commissioners are:
Town of Birchwood - Romaine Quinn
Town of Cedar Lake - Jon Sleik
Town of Doyle - Kevin Jensen
Town of Edgewater - Bill Zimmer
Town of Long Lake - Leroy Sandridge
Town of Wilson - Earl “Bucky” Smith
Village of Birchwood - Morris Gillett
|
