Annual township meeting gets testy over service costs

By Robert Williams

Editor

Fire Chief Adam Walker discussed the need for city council representation after department members attended the annual township meetings and found themselves under fire from township representatives on the rising costs of fire services. Walker and Assistant Chief Joe Nelson discussed the issue during the city council meeting on Wednesday, March 13.

Walker noted he did not receive the same feedback from all of the townships, but he is seeking a way to rectify the issues and continue conversations with township leadership.

One idea is to have a bi-annual meeting with township leaders.

“Maybe they’re seeing something different and we can take their ideas and we’d like to see a council member out there,” Walker said. “If we start losing our townships, we start losing our budget; we start losing our fire department.”

Besides the city, the primary coverage area includes the townships of Burlington, Silver Leaf, Height-of-Land, Evergreen, and portions of Erie

“Height of Land has already threatened to leave,” Walker said. “They said this was the last check they are ever writing to the city. They’re not going to do it anymore unless we find a happy medium there. We don’t want to lose townships.”

Assistant Fire Chief Joe Nelson reported that costs for service in Height of Land township have risen 162 percent since 2018.

Nelson noted the importance of the city and department sharing the day-to-day activities to township officials and how it relates to cost.

Walker described what was a less than pleasant interaction with Height of Land representatives.

“To get belittled and berated like that—to have to come home at 9:30 at night—you think you’re doing a great job, and for lack of a better word, you get the shit kicked out of you,” Walker said.

Kemper brought up the rising costs of equipment the department needs to fight fires around the region and how improving and maintaining proper equipment also has a direct impact on the department’s rating.

In February, Walker announced that the Frazee Fire Department received a Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating of four during a summary report by Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), in November of 2025.

That rating has a direct financial effect on Frazee’s city residents and a small portion of township residents, but not all of them.

“The ISO inspection went very well,” Walker said. “We got a PPC rating of four, which is absolutely unheard of for a small town, rural community, such as ours. It should lower property insurance 10-15 percent for the residents of the city of Frazee and everybody within five to six miles. That’s a huge accomplishment for us at the fire department and the years we put in upgrading equipment, the training we’ve done and the services we provided to the city.”

ISO collects and evaluates information from communities in the United States on their structure fire suppression capabilities. The data is analyzed using local Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) and then a Public Protection Classification (PPC®) grade is assigned to the community. The surveys are conducted whenever it appears that there is a possibility of a PPC change. As such, the PPC program provides important, up-to-date information about fire protection services throughout the country.

Nelson joined Walker in showing empathy to township residents and officials and how it’s the desire of the department to keep lines of communication open and healthy.

“I understand where they are coming from; I’ve been going out to that township since probably 2018 and explaining,” Nelson said. “I understand the frustration. I don’t think they understand how much it costs to operate the fire department.”

Both gentlemen noted they understand the burden is heavy on townships as they cover 60 percent of the department’s budget.

“If we lose one of them, those other three townships are going to have to pick up that slack and they’re going to get mad and go look for other fire service,” said Walker.

Walker believes more interaction between the townships and the city council is mandatory.

“We can’t answer all the city questions; we don’t make the city contracts with the townships; we didn’t designate the 60-40; we didn’t do the equation; any of the other fire contracts were signed—none of the Chiefs are in that position anymore,” Walker said. “When they start yelling at me about the contract they signed five years ago, I was a Captain.”

Involving township leaders with department heads and city council is the best way to rectify the current rift, Walker inferred.

“They would just like to be more involved in it as well,” he said. “If we can bring them in I think it would only be beneficial for the department, the city and our community. For the most part, we get along really good with the townships. We’re just having an issue with one and their bill. I get it—162 percent over eight years—that’s a lot. It’s a big township in square miles, but small in population. That’s got to go to all of those constituents, so I get where they’re coming from.”