TRAVERSE CITY — Come November, voters will decide on a millage renewal that Fire Chief Jim Tuller said would upgrade emergency services in the city. However, concerns have been raised that the proposal doesn’t adequately address the city’s need for new fire stations.
If voters check yes on proposal three the fire department would become the primary emergency transportation service for the city. The fire department would also be able to add two ambulances as well as 10 new first responders. The millage is up to one mil and would cost taxpayers between $10 to $15 a month over the next 20 years.
“The ballot language supports the use of some of that money to improve some of our facilities to address that influx of new personnel,” Tuller assured.
Despite Chief Tuller’s assurance, commissioners at a meeting in August questioned why the proposal doesn’t address Traverse City’s aging fire stations.
“Let’s say the millage fails, we’re still going to need new firehouses because right now we don’t even have facilities for women,” Mayor Pro Tem Amy Shamroe pointed out.
Chief Tuller assured there will be some extra funding to put towards the new fire stations. However, he said they’re waiting to address the stations until after the county’s Facilities Master Plan is completed.
Shamroe said asking voters to fund a new firehouse would have been “premature” without the information from the Facilities Master Plan.
“That new firehouse might include another city service in it. [So] we might have to go amend a millage or ask for a separate millage,” Shamroe explained.
Shamroe admitted that it’s up to the voters to decide but said the commission wouldn’t have put the proposal on the ballot if it wasn’t feasible.
“This is going to affect how we look at transport and staffing for the fire department going forward, but we have a great fire department and they’re always going to be a great fire department whether they’re transporting or just responding to fire calls,” Shamroe said.
