Dousman-Summit fire merger talks begin
Village of Dousman - An initial draft of bylaws for the proposed consolidation of the Dousman and Summit fire districts was scheduled to be reviewed by the Dousman Fire District board on Wednesday.
"It is a rough draft, I don't expect some of it will get past this first review," Dousman Fire Chief Steve Totzke said prior to the meeting.
Totzke said after the proposed bylaws are approved by the Dousman Fire District they will be presented to the three community "owners" of the newly consolidated district, the villages of Dousman and Summit and the Town of Ottawa.
The governing bodies of the three communities agreed in November of 2011 to merge the two fire districts. The Dousman Fire District served the southern half of the Village of Summit, all of the Village of Dousman and most of the Town of Ottawa. The Summit Fire District, which is being dissolved, served the northern half of the Village of Summit and the Village of Oconomowoc Lake.
The newly consolidated Dousman Fire department will serve all of the villages of Summit and Dousman and most of the Town of Ottawa. Oconomowoc Lake will receive emergency services from Okauchee fire department.
Officials of the Summit Fire Protection District agreed to consolidation with the Dousman district after reviewing consolidation proposals from the Dousman Fire District and Lake Country Fire and Rescue, which serves the City of Delafield and the villages of Chenequa and Nashotah.
The proposed bylaws for the newly consolidated fire department reflect the agreement reached late last year by elected officials in the Town of Ottawa and villages of Summit and Dousman, according to Totzke.
Each community will share in the cost of the consolidated department based on that community's number of emergency calls, population, and the valuation of all commercial and residential buildings.
The communities' valuations and number of calls will be considered the most important factors when weighing each community's representation on the governing body of the consolidated fire district.
The proposed bylaws suggest a five-member board to oversee department operations. The two communities with the largest number of calls and greatest assessed valuation will each have two members on the board. Presently, those communities would be Summit and Ottawa.
However, as Ottawa lands are annexed into Dousman as part of a border agreement, Dousman is expected to be represented by two members of the board in the future and Ottawa's representation is expected to be reduced by one member.
The proposed bylaws will also suggest the term of the consolidation be for seven years. Any of the three communities that want to withdraw from the agreement shall give notice of their intent to withdraw by the fifth year of the agreement so there will be two years to implement the withdrawal.
In the event the district is dissolved, fire equipment will be returned to the community that purchased the equipment prior to the consolidation. The value of equipment purchased after the consolidation by the consolidated department will be shared by the three communities based on the formula for funding department operations.
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