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Stacy, Lent still have no joint powers agreementBy Barbara Brown At a special joint powers meeting Dec. 1, Lent offered Stacy a contract for service at a cost of $25,000 for the first year and $45,000 for the second year with the third year through the end of the contract promised not to increase in price more than five percent per year. The contract for service would save the city of Stacy considerable amounts of money, but the city would have no ownership of the building or the department and also would have no voting power. The contract would cost the city about $70,586 per year. However, Lent also proposed it would buy out Stacyís ownership of equipment for $50,000 spread over two years. The $50,000 would be applied as a credit to the contract for a total of $25,000 for the first yearís pro-rated service from July through December 2004 and $50,000 per year for 2005 with the full $70,586 contract to be paid starting in 2006. Stacy council members said at the meeting they believed city residents would be willing to pay a little extra on their taxes if they were given ownership in the fire hall and voting rights at joint powers sessions. Residents in attendance at the Stacy truth-in-taxation meeting, held Dec. 2, were asked by council members if they would like to maintain ownership and the 30 people in attendance showed their interest in keeping some ownership in the fire department and fire hall. Along with the contract for service Lent offered the city a 2-to-1 vote split that would essentially make Stacyís presence on the joint powers board moot. Another option on the table is to offer Stacy a 50-50 split of operational costs, but with the differences in assessed valuation and population, Stacy residents would end up paying four times more for service than Lent residents. Township board supervisor Monica Abress said the board held a meeting last week to work out numbers on the different options and decided that the only fair way to make the cost for service as equal as possible for Stacy residents was to offer the city the contract for service. Abress said the Lent board had worked out the contract for service option during Lent Town work sessions. Abress said the board would have to wait until March to offer the Lent residents the option of allowing Stacy to buy in for 50 percent ownership of the new fire hall. The townshipís residents had paid for three years on an increased levy to pay for the building. After lengthy discussion at the Dec. 1 meeting, both Stacy and Lent agreed to wait until after the townshipís annual meeting in March to continue negotiations. The Lent board will propose the Stacy-developed option of a split of about 70 percent Lent, 30 percent Stacy with equal voting rights. The current joint powers agreement is set to expire June 4, 2004. Should the new joint powers agreement not be solidified by then, the fire department would continue to operate, both councils agreed. The councils would most likely simply vote to extend the current joint powers agreement for a time until a new one could be finalized. ©ECM Post Review |