MADISON TOWNSHIP — Madison Township Trustee Larry Ellis said last Friday that progress in being made to reopen the closed fire station on Kitchen Road.

The township closed the station last year due to problems with the building and the concrete apron outside the building.

Ellis said they plan to place a mobile home on the property for the crew to live in. He said they have also hired an engineer to determine the size and thickness of the apron. He said once they get the specifics, they will put the project out for bid.

Ellis said they are also getting the permits for their work and he plans to have the building inspected to see if it can be remodeled or does it need to be replaced.

Ellis said he hoped to have the station back in service within a month.

Letter requests Ellis resign

Since the fire department was changed from an all-volunteer department to a full-time paid department, there has been unhappiness from residents in the township.

Beginning in the early 2000s when the department went full time, there have been problems. Some of the problems included a lack of trust between the township’s elected officials and the residents, problems with funding the department and keeping firefighters on staff.

Those problems came up at the April 10 meeting, which lasted more than two hours and was marked by contentious discussion between firefighters, residents and the township’s elected officials. Much of the discussion was centered on the status of Station 31, but the only action item that was approved was a pay raise for paramedics. 

The day after that meeting, Jordan VanWye, vice president of the Madison Township District Local 4555, sent Ellis a letter requesting that he resign from his position.

While VanWye was happy with discussions on firefighters’ pay and benefits, he was unhappy with other items, including the high turnover of firefighters in the department, as well as Ellis’ refusal to provide public documents upon request, which resulted in a formal complaint with the state, according to VanWye.

“The unprofessionalism displayed at the township board meeting on April 10, 2024, was deeply concerning,” he wrote. 

VanWye goes on to say, “Your actions have demonstrated an obsession with control and authority, which appears to hinder your ability to make decisions that best serve the community.” He alleged that Ellis is undertaking duties “that traditionally fall within the purview of the fire chief, which has led to a misalignment between the department’s needs and your directives.”

VanWye said Ellis has made statements that do not reflect the realities faced by the department.

VanWye cited an incident during the Wednesday meeting in which he alleged Ellis was “seen laughing” at a mother who, along with her daughter, have serious medical problems and need the assistance of the township fire department.

VanWye concluded his letter by saying, “We will be reaching out to county officials and neighboring fire departments to explore the formation of a fire territory or fire district.”

In an attachment, VanWye asked for Ellis to consider resigning from his position.

Trustee plans

When reached by phone Tuesday, Ellis said he’d read the letter “but “not really digested it.” But his bottom line remained. 

“My official response as an elected official — no, I’m not resigning,” he said. “I was elected by the people of Madison Township. … I think the majority of Madison Township residents do not feel the same way as the people in the last meeting.” 

Ellis acknowledged he’s had a few missteps as a first-term trustee. 

“I’ll admit to that,” he said. “But our goals have not changed.”

He pointed to the expedited plans to get Station 31 reopened, along with additional efforts to get the township’s fire department fully staffed.

“We believe, at this point, we’re rounding the corner to get where we need to be,” Ellis said. “We’re renovating Station 31 and doing a lot of good things. Our goal has always been to take care of our firefighters.” 

The township is in the process of adding a couple more firefighters with a target to be fully staffed at nine full-time firefighters, in addition to some part-time positions as well. Between the full- and part-timers, the township aims to have eight firefighters on shift per day.

“Can we always get eight people per day? No, but that is our target,” Ellis said, as that “allows us to have two stations open.” 

But he knows he’s contending with some opposition, and he hopes the township residents and even its firefighters can give the elected officials a bit more time.

“We’re just going to have to go forward with our plans and prove these things can be done, and done in a constructive way,” Ellis said. 

Those efforts start with getting Station 31 reopened by doing the necessary repairs and upgrades.

“It needs to be done,” Ellis said. “The can has been kicked down the road too long.”

~ By Keith Rhoades | Reporter | Published April 18, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent

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MADISON TOWNSHIP — It appears that there are several very unhappy people in Madison Township. The meeting of the Madison Township Advisory Board and trustee Larry Ellis last Thursday was standing room only as residents and firefighters packed the training room behind Station 32 on Landersdale Road.

It appears the people in the audience, the board and the trustee were unhappy with several problems affecting the township.

The biggest problem for everyone that night was what to do about Station 31.

The only item on the agenda that night was the closure of Station 31 on Kitchen Road and what the trustee and board members planned to do about it.

That station was closed late last year due to problems with the cement pad in front of the building. Ellis said there were also other safety problems in the building that reportedly been built years ago as a barn. It was converted over to a fire station in the late ‘90s or early 2000s.

The residents on hand Thursday night demanded to know what was being done to get the station back into operation.

Past history

Madison Township is located in the northeast section of Morgan County. It is bordered on the north by the Marion/Hendricks county line, on the east by the Johnson County line, and on the south by the White River. On the west side is Brown Township.

For years, Madison Township was rural, with lots of farmland and a volunteer fire department.

Then in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, a large area of property in Morgan, Hendricks and Marion counties was developed into Heartland Crossing. That development would have industry, businesses and hundreds of homes, most of which would be located in Morgan County and Madison Township.

At that time, the elected officials in the township decided they needed to change from an all-volunteer fire department to a full-/part-time paid department. The reasoning behind the decision was due to the increased number of people moving into the area. They felt the new homes, which could cost $250,000 or more at the time, would need fire coverage, and the people who live in them would need ambulance service.

Work began to convert the volunteer department over to a paid department.

The station on Kitchen Road, where some fire equipment had been stored, was updated for crew residence.

A new station on Landersdale Road was built, which also housed the township trustee and his office.

Problems arise

During the mid 2000s, the housing boom went bust, and many of the proposed homes in Heartland Crossing were not built. Some existing homes went into foreclosure and sat empty.

There were some decisions made by those in office and employed by the township that turned out to have been made in error.

The overall effect was that some tax-paying residents of the township grew distrustful of their elected officials and began activity working against them.

That distrust carries over to this day.

The meeting

Trustee Larry Ellis began the meeting by explaining what he and board members intend to do to get the station reopened.

Ellis said they had a quote — for around $145,000 — from a contractor to replace the broken cement pad in front of the station. 

Later in the meeting, several people asked if the board had asked an engineer what the specifications should be for the pad. They were concerned the pad would not last and have to be replaced.

Board members said they were looking for an engineer to review the specifications and make sure what they wanted would hold up. To date, they said, they had been unsuccessful in finding a person to review those specifications.

As for the building, Ellis said they planned to put a mobile home on the property to provide housing for three firefighters on a 24/7 basis. They planned to put an engine somewhere on the property to respond to calls in the southern part of the township. He said there would not be an ambulance stationed there, but it would come from the station 32 on Landersdale Road.

Ellis said the mobile home would be temporary until they decided either to remodel station 31 or demolish it and build a new station.

The township’s acting fire chief, Chad Coulter, said he had conducted an inspection of the station and had found 36 major code violations concerning the electrical system.

Ellis said there was nothing wrong with the structure, but if they kept it, it would have to have extensive work.

Several people in the audience said they wanted an independent inspection of the building before any decision was made.

Board members were not opposed to having an independent inspector to look at the building.

There were some in the audience who expressed concerns about staffing for both stations and the response time to go from station 32 to station 31 for an emergency.

Some estimated it could take between eight to 11 minutes to respond.

As for staffing, the board never answered the question of having enough staff to operate both stations. It was discussed that there will be three people at station 31, who are all certified firefighters and would be emergency medical technicians, there will only be two people at station 32, one of which one would be a paramedic. If both of them respond on the ambulance, there would be no one at either station to respond to a second call.

Board members said they understood staffing was a problem, and at the end of the meeting they decided to have an executive session.

They originally scheduled one for Tuesday, but Ellis said Monday morning that it would be delayed.

Questions of funding

Several people asked where the funding for the work would come from.

Ellis said there was money in one of the department’s funds that could be used, but it would have to be appropriated by the board.

A couple of people asked why the township tax rate, which they said was between 17 and 19 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, had not been raised to pay for more full-time staff. They said it had been that same rate for years and needed to be raised to cover the fire service.

Board members did not answer that question.

There were questions why the fire department had a 95-percent turnover rate and what was being done to add more firefighters to the department and keep them once they were hired.

They asked why, when Station 31 was closed in October, did it take all this time for the board to act.

Ellis said it was up to the fire chief to hire new people. The board did not answer why the delay in getting the station reopened.

As for staffing, it was disclosed the department has two full-time paramedics on staff. It was stated there are between six to eight full-time firefighters on staff. They use paid part-timers to help fill out the shifts.

There was a request to have copies of the quotes for the cement, and for the cost of the mobile home. (Ellis said it will cost $2,300 a month).

When the meeting ended, there were still some very unhappy people who said they felt their questions had not been answered.

The board did not set a date for another public hearing.

~ By Keith Rhoades | Reporter | Published March 14, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent

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