Madison, Harrison townships meeting draws public fire

MADISON TOWNSHIP — Normally, meetings of the Madison Township Advisory Board are held in the training room behind the Landersdale Fire Station.

For Thursday night’s combined meeting of the board and the Harrison Township Fire District Board, the public hearing was moved inside the fire station in the truck bay. The combined boards met to discuss the proposed formation of the Northern Morgan County Fire Territory.

It was a good thing the meeting was moved because more than 150 people packed the area to hear about the proposed establishment of a fire territory between the two townships.

The three Madison Township board members attended the meeting, along with three of the five Harrison Township Fire Board members.

And most people in the audience were not happy with what they heard during the three and a half hour meeting.

Most of the questions raised by the audience were about the costs of the territory and how it would affect them, how the territory would be administered, and what the future held. Other concerns raised by the audience included accusations of theft, conflict of interest, holding illegal meetings, immorality and not being transparent with the process.

The meeting began with a statement from the Madison board that members of the audience would each be given three minutes to address the board during public comment. Board members asked that questions be held until that time so the information they had could be presented to the audience.

Due to the size of the room, several people said they had trouble hearing what was said. Also several people wanted to know where the Madison Township Trustee, Scott McDonough, was. Someone said he was at work and could not attend the meeting.

It was also said the combined boards would meet again March 27 to vote on the matter. According to attorney Jeffrey M. Bellamy, of the firm Thrasher, Buschmann, and Voeklel, PC, the state requests approval by April 1 for the territory to go into effect July 1.

Accountant’s presentation

Nichole A. Franklin, of Peters Municipal Consultants, LTD, gave the financial overview of the territory and how it would be funded. Franklin began with an explanation on the proposed three-year budget. She said the state would be the final authority on both the budget and the tax rate.

She tried to explain the process the state would use in their determinations on the tax rate and budget, but she was interrupted numerous times by residents. Her estimates on the possible tax increase were met with skepticism by numerous audience members.

Franklin said there would be two funds — an operating fund for the department’s day to day operations and an equipment replacement fund. Each fund would have its own tax rate, she said.

Several members of the audience were openly hostile to Franklin’s estimates on their tax increases. They felt her numbers did not reflect the reality of their property. As one member of the audience said several times during the meeting, his home is valued at $347,000 not the $100,000 value Franklin was using.

Fire chief speaks

Next up was Madison Township Fire Chief Mike Lang.

Lang explained that at this time, the township has two stations — the main station on Landersdale Road and a second smaller station on Kitchen Road. He said there are four people at the Landersdale Road station and three at the Kitchen Road station.

Lang said based on the National Fire Prevention Association guidelines, for low hazard fires, such as a single-family home, they need 15 firefighters there within eight minutes of the call. He said a medium hazard fire, such as a strip mall or three-story apartment fire, calls for 28 firefighters.

He said they are badly understaffed and need more firefighters. Lang said he has a problem keeping firefighters because they do not have benefits and their pay is lower than other departments. Lang said in the last couple of years, he has had a 200-percent turnover in staff. Lang said they have a new truck on order. He did not say when they would receive it.

The chief said the department equipment, with a couple of exceptions, had passed inspections. The one major exception is the department’s radios, which were purchased in 2008 by a grant. He said the radios are no longer being made or supported by the manufacturer and will have to be replaced.

Lang said in many cases, they cannot meet the standards for responding to emergencies. He said their response time is affected by dispatch. He said the “clock” begins when dispatch receives the call, not when they dispatch it for response. He said sometimes a full minute can go by before the call is dispatched.

Harrison Twp: no assets

Lang said Harrison Township does not own any fire department equipment. Land said the department, called The Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Department, is a privately owned company. All the equipment, including the fire station, is owned by the company.

Lang said the territory would have to negotiate a long-term lease with the company for the use of the fire station and its equipment.

Lang went on to say the fire station is not complete and will need work. He said the estimated cost to finish the station is around $200,000. (According to records from the Morgan County Plan Commission, the station has never received a certificate of occupancy, which is needed for the building to be used.)

Also, most of the company’s equipment — including the turnout gear, hose, ladders, trucks and air packs — is either out of date or has not passed reinspection.

Lang said the company’s hose is 35 years old. He said they tracked the age because Madison Township gave its hose to Harrison Township some years ago. He said Madison Township received that hose from a township fire department in Marion County years before that.

Lang said the turnout gear had expired in September 2019 and would have to be replaced. He said all vehicles and equipment would have to be tested to make sure they meet the standards. Lang said the air packs fire crews used to fight fires needed to be tested to make sure they met standards.

Lang said a new pumper was needed in Harrison Township. He said the company had taken out a loan and was having a new truck built. He did not know the extent of the loan or what the truck would be used for.

Lang said the territory would use the firefighters from Harrison Township for the first year or so to cover their area. He said until the tax rate comes into effect, there would be no funds available to pay for improvements for at least a year.

Lang said Harrison Township had asked the county council several times for additional funds but had been refused.

Morgan County Councilman Daniel Elliott attended the meeting. After it concluded, Elliott said he had asked for information about department membership and other information about the department before he would vote for additional funding. Elliott said the council has yet to receive the information requested.

Lang said Harrison Township does have a drone that can be used in emergencies and also has a water rescue unit.

Lang said the Waverly/Harrison Township area will be affected by the development of I-69. A new sewer system is currently under construction, he said. That system, along with the interstate, will bring more development to that area.

Lang said he and his department want to “operate in a safe efficient manner and provide good service.”

Lang was continually interrupted by questions on who would be “in charge” of the new territory and what the salaries of the fire crews would be.

While Lang was able to answer some questions, there were a few that he could not answer.

Lang said he did not know any of the financial matters involving the Harrison Fire Co. He did now know the status of any loans or grants. He did say that Harrison was attempting to obtain some grants for some items. He did not say what those items were.

Harrison Township Fire District Board member Mike Jackson spoke about the matter. He said after hearing the tax impact on Madison residents, he could not support the territory. Jackson said he couldn’t impose those financial increases on his neighbors in Madison Township.

Lots of questions, few answers

Audience members peppered the board members with lots and lot of questions.

Some of them included:

Newley appointed Madison Township Board member Larry Ellis then spoke to the audience. He was selected by caucus, in February, to fill a vacancy on the board. He was not happy with the way this discussion came about. He felt the matter had not been discussed in public and was not in favor of it.

• Harrison Township pays the county emergency medical service tax rate while Madison Township does not. Will the rate be removed form Harrison Township residents tax bill or with they continue paying for it?

According to different people who are on the boards, Madison Township pays for its ambulance from the fire budget, which is in the tax rate. The state will not allow for double taxation for the same service.

There were some who felt it would be dropped with others felt the money would go to the new territory. There was discussion of the county taking over ambulance coverage in Madison Township.

• The meetings are illegal because they were not advertised correctly.

Madison Township resident Gregg Terhune told board members they failed to follow state law in advertising the meetings. He said the first meeting, which was held on Feb. 21, was advertised in the Feb. 12 edition of the Mooresville-Decatur Times. He said state law required the meetings to be advertised 10 days in advance and they only advertised nine days.

Terhune said, based on the law, the meetings are illegal and should not be taking place. Terhne also brought up at least two additional problems he said that did not allow the board to consider forming a territory. His words were drowned out by audience members who began shouting the meeting was illegal and should be stopped.

The board stopped long enough to ask its attorney, Bellamy, if the meetings were properly advertised. After briefly checking something, Bellamy said, in his opinion, the meetings were properly advertised. That brought several requests from the audience for him to provide the information he was using to come to his decision.

Bellamy said it was in the state law that Terhune had described.

• Wait until next year.

Many in the audience kept asking why the rush to install a fire territory. They felt with the number of unanswered questions, it would be wise to wait until they has answers. There were concerns about allegedly mismanagement of resources in the Harrison Township Fire Department. There were allegations of theft in the department and questions of the grant that was used to build the new station.

As for the Madison Township Department, there were questions about the actions of past board members, past trustees and fire officials. Several people brought up the past financial problems of the department and that one official was caught in his vehicle with a woman who was not his spouse.

There were multiple questions from many people about the cost to Madison residents. One person in the audience brought laughter and applause from nearly everyone when he yelled out, “Give us Bernie (Sanders) and it will be free!”

Several expressed concerns that “Madison Township adopts Harrison Township, and it will have to take care of it forever.”

There were questions on having the matter placed on the May or November election ballot. It was explained to them by the board that state law does not allow for people to vote on matters like that.

Near riot occurs

At one point, a person identified at Rick Harrison, became involved in an argument with a Madison Township board member, identified as Amy Russell.

Harrison never left his seat but continued to argue with Russell. Russell asked Harrison to either be quiet or leave the meeting. When he refused, Russell asked two Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputies to escort him from the meeting. When deputies asked him to leave, Harrison refused.

He was then grabbed by the arms and escorted from the meeting. Harrison was not charged, and he returned at the end of the meeting.

Many of the audience came to their feet to protect Harrison’s removal. For a short time, it appeared the audience was going to get out of control but several people in their group were able to get the group under control.

This came after a Madison board member, Angie Turley, left the meeting citing a family matter. That angered several people in the audience who felt she should stay and listen to them.

One person asked for a show of hands in the audience who were Madison Township residents and were for the merger. No one raised their hand.

When asked for a show of hands for those who were against the merger, nearly everyone raised their hand.

Several people continued to ask who began this discussion.

At one point, Lang’s name was brought up as one person who had begun discussion. A second person, Kelly Alcala, was also mentioned as a person who had begun the discussion. Alcala was not at the meeting. She is a former Madison Township Board member and is currently a county council member. She is currently working as the Madison Township clerk.

Many questioned the funding, expressing concerns about their property taxes going up. Several said they were retired and on fixed incomes. They felt they could not afford any increase.

At one point, a resident accused both boards with trying to “ramrod” the residents.”

“You don’t have answers,” they said.

There were some who were former firefighters who expressed their understanding of what Lang wanted to do. But they were concerned with the increase in taxes and a couple did not like working with the Harrison department.

At the end of the meeting, most people asked the boards to wait until next year and get more answers.

The next public hearing was scheduled for March 27, but trustee McDonough announced late Friday the hearing is canceled and the township will not be pursuing a fire territory this year.

~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published March 13, 2020 in The Reporter Times