The Township Public Safety Committee is committed to improving emergency services throughout the community, and must consider growth of commercial, residential and agricultural activities within the 36 square miles we are responsible to protect.  Many factors must be weighed when developing these services for the Township, including:

• Local, regional and national standards of performance for emergency services.
• Geographic areas of concentrated development requiring services.
• Statistical information revealing an increased demand for emergency services.
• Desires of residents, expectations of service and the delivery of those services.
• Costs of current services and costs to improve and enhance services.
• Funding mechanisms to provide for the required services.

 Goals and Standards of Performance for the Fire / Rescue / Emergency Medical Services

In order to provide for the citizens desires and develop emergency services, the performance of those services must be based on acceptable standards of good practice.  Fire, rescue and emergency medical services can be gauged by the following national standards:

• Structure fires - a fire apparatus should arrive within 5 minutes, 90% of the time.  At least 12 firefighters should be on the scene within 10 minutes.
• Rescues and life-threatening Emergency Medical incidents - initial treatment should begin within 5 minutes for best outcome.  Advanced Life Support should begin within 8 minutes 90% of the time.
• Facilities and support - the best property insurance ratings are achieved when Fire Stations are located within 2.5 miles of concentrated development.

 Geographic Areas of Concentrated Development

Many once rural areas of Texas Township have been developed for commercial, industrial and residential use.  Agricultural areas are diminishing, but are still an active component of Township land use.  Concentrated growth has been developing well beyond the recommended 2.5 miles of the single fire station in Texas Corners.  These developing areas include:

• Autumn Woods
• Misty Creek
• Eagle Lake, Heritage, Vineyards, and Glenwynd
• Mattawan Heights
• Mystic Trails, Mystic Estates, Mystic Pines
• Bel Villagio
• Wyngate Farms
• Rudgate Ridge, Rudgate Farms, Kelly Meadows
• Maplewood Farms
• Stratford Woods, Saddlebrook Farms
• Corporate Woods, National City Bank complex, The Groves, 9^th St / I-94 / N Ave. commercial areas including Twin Star Ice arena and S.W.A.T. Fitness.

Statistical Information Revealing an Increased Demand for Service

People desire the rural flavor, geography and the good school systems of Texas Township.  This has resulted in the population of the Township almost doubling in the last 15 years.  Currently we estimate the population being 13,000 permanent residents.  Population varies during different times of the day, with an estimated 10,000 students and faculty of K.V.C.C. and M-TEC, a combined 2000 employees of National City/ PNC, Bronson Health, United Parcel, TLC Warehousing, and Dana Corp.  Also, employees and visitors of our many restaurants and hotels on 9^th St., travelers on I-94 between US-131 and Mattawan, and recreational facilities of S.W.A.T. , Pirates Island water recreation facility, and Twin Star Ice arena add to this fluctuation.  This has resulted in our emergency services demand increasing along with associated problems, including:

• Total response requests of the Fire & Rescue department doubling in the last 10 years
• Total response requests for police service have almost tripled in that same time period.
• Response times averaging over 5 minutes on 52% of fire, emergency medical, and rescue calls.  This can be attributed to:
• 51% of emergency calls happen when there is no staffing at the fire / rescue station, resulting in delays due to additional time of on-call personnel to respond.
• On-call personnel living farther away from the fire station resulting in longer travel time getting to the station to respond fire / rescue units.  Availability of on-call fire / rescue volunteers has decreased due to demands of their full-time jobs and family commitments.
• Increased traffic congestion during certain times, and drivers not yielding to emergency units.
• Concentrated development occurring beyond 2.5 miles from the Texas Corners fire station.  On an average, responding emergency vehicle drive time is calculated at 1 minute for every 1/2-mile of travel distance.

 Desires of Residents, Expectations of Service and the Delivery of those services

People have come to expect certain performances of Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue services.  Much of this can be attributed to perceptions developed over the years from news and television, personal experiences, and the internet.  Some of these desires and expectations include:

• Response and arrival times within 5 minutes of the time they call 9-1-1.
• Qualified, skilled, and compassionate responders, as well as an adequate number of responders to handle the emergency.
• Reliable response vehicles and equipment.
• Pride in ownership of quality services.

Costs of Current Services and Costs to Improve and Enhance Services

Every service provided or desired has a corresponding cost, and its quality is dependant on available funding.  Currently, the Fire / Rescue and Police service is funded from about 25% of the Townships general operating budget.  The general fund budget is supported by only an 8-tenth of 1 mil property tax, so in reality this corresponds to about 2-tenth mill to support fire, rescue, and police.  There is no dedicated tax levy or millage for the Fire & Rescue service or Police protection in Texas Township; other surrounding Townships levy 1.0 to 2.5 mils just for fire and rescue services.  The current Township funding only provides for:

• 2 Deputies contracted from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department, providing an average of about 9 hours of total patrol per day.
• 2 full-time fire / rescue personnel, with one person on-duty at the Fire Station from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Friday (not including holidays).  22 on-call volunteers provide response during the times there is no on-duty person at the station.
• One Fire / Rescue station at Texas Corners.  No police station, although the Deputies utilize office space at the Township Hall / Offices.
• Ordinance and Zoning enforcement provided by one part-time Ordinance Enforcement person who is on duty from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

 The costs to improve these services are only limited by what the taxpayers would desire.  While we can place dollar figures on individual components of each improvement, the public must provide input on the enhancement package they would like in order to determine the total costs.  Some enhancements that have been discussed by the public and indicated on the recent community survey:

• More hours of patrol time by Sheriffs Deputies.
• 24-hour staffing of the Fire & Rescue station.
• Faster response times for fire, rescue and medical emergencies.

 Funding mechanisms to provide for the required services

Funding mechanisms can come in a variety of forms.  Currently, the Township takes advantage of any available grant funding that it is eligible for, but the higher property values and income levels of our residents places the Township at a lower priority for most grants.  The Fire / Rescue Department also have on-going fundraising activities that provide for small amounts of revenue.  Funding mechanisms can take the form of:

• Annual property assessments, levies, or taxes.  These are the most stable and reliable modes of funding and spreads the burden more equitably across all property owners.
• More vigorous fundraising activities, requiring citizen participation in the fundraising committees.  This relies on very active community participation, and can be influenced by other demands on available time of residents.  Donations are affected by the current economic situation and can be very difficult to base future planning on.
• Fees for services rendered.  This places the entire financial burden on those that use the services.  Many Fire and Rescue responses are equipment and personnel intensive and the costs are be well beyond what insurance companies reimburse.  This mechanism would result in the inability of victims to pay for the entire bill, and cause legal inconveniences for the victim and funding shortfalls for the department.  Law enforcement and Ordinance violation fees for service would take the form of increased fines and penalties for infractions, and could result in the inability for violators to pay fines followed by further legal proceedings.
• Combinations of any of the above.  Each has its pros and cons. The residents will have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the means of funding if they desire improvements to the existing system.
• Status Quo.  Leaving the system to be funded as-is is not providing adequate resources to keep pace with demand.  Our two Law Enforcement officers are spending less patrol time, and more time with investigations and court appearances due to the increasing amount of violations and crime in the Township.  Our Fire / Rescue personnel are consistently dispatched to simultaneous emergency calls resulting in delays and splitting resources for multiple locations.  The Fire / Rescue vehicle fleet is maintenance intensive. One pumper is 15 years old and another pumper and the tanker truck are 9 years old, requiring more dollars for upkeep.  On-call volunteers are finding their free time taken up by more emergency responses and training, leaving them less time for family and personal activities.  Rightly so, many times this results in priorities given to family activities rather than emergency calls. 

If you attended one of the Community forums in recent months, THANK YOU!  Your input is helping us formulate plans for the years ahead.