Two more towns end Copenhagen fire contracts; fire department to hold community messaging day

Oct. 1—LOWVILLE — Two more Lewis County towns gave 30-day notice to the village of Copenhagen that they will be discontinuing their Copenhagen Volunteer Fire Department contracts early.

The Pinckney Town Council passed a resolution on Tuesday and Harrisburg followed suit on Friday in special meetings, after Denmark was the first to pass a resolution to end its contract with the department last week.

"We had to do something because you don't know if they're going to do the petition (for a public referendum) or not and we need to know," said Pinckney Supervisor Sherry J. Harmych in an interview on Wednesday. "The bottom line is it's taxpayer money and no matter what, we need to be responsible for the taxpayers' money and they need to be responsible to the taxpayers."

Mrs. Harmych said that although the controversy over the fire department's spending wasn't as pronounced before the drill team was disbanded in 2018, there was reason to wonder "if your money was going to that rather than the actual firefighting things they need."

She said the taxpayer money should only be used for gear, the department's truck fund, training and other firefighting expenses not for up-front money to hold fundraisers or to pay for travel to ceremonies, parades or conventions.

Fundraising dollars are meant to be used to cover those expenses. 1

"That's their money to do what they would like," she added.

When asked if she was concerned by the fire department's accusation that the village has not been paying the department's bills, the Pinckney supervisor said "no, because I know that once they (the fire department) turn in their bills in the proper way the village will pay them. It's been explained at every meeting so I don't know why it's not getting back to the proper person in the fire department about how to do it."

Mrs. Harmych said she believes the village is handling the situation well and emphasized that it is not just the village board that is concerned about the finances and the department's ability to provide safe fire protection.

The situation is personal for Mrs. Harmych because the department kept her house from burning some years ago when her garage caught on fire making the decision "heartbreaking."

Members of the Harrisburg council talked through similar concerns before unanimously approving the resolution to end their contract.

"It seems so simple for them (the fire department) to just do what the village wants for a period of time to reestablish their credibility," Councilman Carey L. Koster Jr. told the group.

Like with the other contracting towns, Harrisburg's primary concern is whether or not the Copenhagen department has enough active members to fulfill their contract responsibilities for fire protection.

"It's just for the safety of the public," said Councilman Paul A. Widrick. "I have no confidence in the Copenhagen Fire Department," while his colleague Jim W. Schlieder said that after watching the live streams of the various meetings with the village and the department, his "faith has not been restored" in the fire department.

All three of the towns ending their contracts will be reimbursed by the village for a prorated amount for the time left in their contracts that would have ended on Dec. 31.

The town of Champion, whose contract will expire at the end of 2023, however, is taking a different approach.

Supervisor Brian Peck said in an interview on Friday that they won't make any decisions until they get official word from the village that the department will be dissolved which can't happen until either Oct. 21 arrives and no petitions have been submitted with enough signatures for a public vote on the measure or if a petition is turned in on time, if village residents approve the department's closure during the referendum vote.

"They (the village board) have been moving through this process and we have yet to receive official word from their lawyer to our lawyer that they are unable to sustain this contract," Mr. Peck said. "In this situation, I would hate to have that referendum come to fruition and then the people will vote against what the village has decided and then where will we be?"

Mr. Peck added that while he is "concerned about response rates," his conversations with the Emergency Services departments in Jefferson and Lewis counties reassured him that the mutual aid calls to other fire departments when Copenhagen is called will continue to provide good fire protection for residents, even if the department ends.

Champion has been going through a similar set of challenges since the town abolished its fire department in 2015.

The town also has fire protection contracts with West Carthage — which is working to open its substation at the old Champion Fire Department fire hall — and Great Bend in the northern third of the town.

All of the towns, including Champion, and the village have made certain that their residents will have seamless fire coverage, regardless of what happens with the Copenhagen Department, through mutual aid calls from other departments in the area to support the contract fire department.

Similarly, the Copenhagen Village Board issued a statement this week assuring village residents "every measure has been taken to protect every resident" with uninterrupted fire protection by organizing a facility where a fire department targeted for a potential fire contract can keep equipment and run a local base to keep response times low.

"The department we are working with has many volunteers within two miles of the village limits and we have been approached by several individuals that would like to volunteer with the contracting fire department," according to the statement.

Throughout the summer, the village board warned that the three towns were considering ending their contracts which would result in a 45% tax increase if villagers had to cover the expenses of the department on their own.

Although the department provided a number of documents and the chief improved the number and quality of training for firefighters throughout this year, the situation did not improve enough to prevent the village from issuing an ultimatum for the department to hand over control of the finances and assets and be kept afloat for the next year while they sort out the books and get procedures in order or the department would have to abolished because the village can't afford the department without the contract money.

If a referendum is held and village residents vote to keep the fire department, the board stated the result will be a tax increase of about 45%.

All of the municipal boards involve said there are a number of excellent firefighters in the department that they hope will continue their work even if it is with another department.

For its part, the Copenhagen Fire Department, Inc. will be holding a Community Day from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the fire hall as approved by department members in their August meeting.

The day was suggested as a means for the department to make its perspectives known to village residents.