The Sunset Bay and Silver Creek fire departments are moving forward with a merger under one fire district, facilitated by the Town of Hanover’s allocation of $15,000 to cover the necessary legal costs. Both the Village of Silver Creek and the Town of Hanover Boards recently held a joint meeting with Fire Chief Brandyn Griewisch, of Silver Creek, and Fire Chief Rob Weiskerger, of Sunset Bay, to discuss plans to move forward.

Hanover Supervisor Lou Pelletter stated the process has been ongoing for approximately two years. Spurned by a shortage of volunteers and rising costs for equipment, the Town Board recognized the benefits of consolidating the five fire departments that serve the town into one fire district for taxing purposes. Pelletter acknowledged declining population throughout the region and called it “increasingly difficult” to keep taxes below the tax cap while still meeting the needs of the fire departments.

“I don’t see how the Village or the Town can buy a million dollar fire truck,” Pelletter said.

Instead of five taxing districts, the Town Board saw the benefit to forming one district to collect the funds for all of the departments. The Town Accountant believed that by consolidating all of the departments into one district, the money collected could potentially double because of the way taxes would be levied against the entire assessed value of the town. The Town Board also believed that many more opportunities for grant funding would be available by merging all five departments into one district.

Hanover Deputy Supervisor Bernie Feldmann called the decision for Sunset Bay and Silver Creek fire departments to merge, under one fire district, “progressive and responsible.”

Instead, only two of the five departments were on board — Sunset Bay and Silver Creek. The other three fire departments that service the town — Hanover Center, Irving, and Forestville – are not proceeding with the proposed merger. Instead of spending more time trying to change the minds of the other departments, Hanover has moved forward with forming one district to cover a substantial portion of the town’s needs.

“We’ve got a lot of things progressing. We don’t want to revert back to the old ways. We want to get it up and running with what we need and service the town the way it should be serviced,” Hanover Deputy Supervisor Bernie Feldmann said. “Credit to Sunset Bay and Silver Creek members for stepping up and raising their hands, saying they want to do it.”

The Town Board is eyeing King Road as a line of demarcation, essentially dividing the town in half. That same line is already drawn in terms of ambulance services, with Forestville handling ambulance needs south of King Road and Silver Creek handling the north side of King Road.

“It just made sense to use (the line) that was already established for those two companies,” Feldmann said.

Financially, the King Road line benefits the two departments merging into one district because a substantial portion of the assessed value in the town of Hanover is located on the north side of King Road, especially with lakefront properties in Sunset Bay and Hanford Bay. That benefit could increase substantially in the coming years, as substantial development is targeted along Route 5 and 20 for a new hospital, plans for a potential hotel, and a senior living facility planned at the site of the old Silver Creek school on Main Street in the village.

“We’re going to need highly trained, effective firefighters. The way to get that is by getting them together, pooling the money, and buying them the best equipment that money can purchase,” Feldmann said. “… We have a great opportunity to have a great fire department here, and this is the way to go about it.”

Sunset Bay Fire Chief Rob Weiskerger stated his department has already begun to evaluate how to downsize its equipment moving forward to better identify what should be upgraded with the resources available. Silver Creek Fire Chief Brandyn Griewisch stated that the two departments already make an effort not to duplicate equipment.

“We’ve been running together anyway,” Griewisch said of collaboration with Sunset Bay. “They’ve been our right hand and we’ve been theirs, so it made the most sense for us to put it together to better serve the area that we’re going to cover. … We think we can offer better service collectively.”

In terms of practicality, the line of demarcation also benefits the new district because of proximity – with the Silver Creek and Sunset Bay fire halls located much further away from the other side of King Road than nearby Forestville.

“In a perfect world, we can’t have guys from Sunset Bay and Silver Creek going to the Arkwright town line handling an accident when Forestville is right there. It just doesn’t make sense,” Feldmann said. “We have to be responsible to those folks too and provide the best coverage, and also the best quality of life to our firemen.”

Forestville’s decision to not join Silver Creek and Sunset Bay in the potential merger has a lot to do with its location, not only in terms of proximity to the other departments, but also in its own coverage area. Forestville covers a significant portion of Arkwright, which does not have its own fire department. Forestville and Cassadaga share fire protection of Arkwright.

“I get their concerns,” Feldmann said of Forestville.

For Irving and Hanover Center, however, it is not as obvious to the Town Board why they do not want to be part of the new district. Feldmann said, “What happens with Irving and Hanover Center going forward? Our hopes are that they realize, maybe, the error of their ways and they can come in and ask to join the new district after it’s formed. That will be up to the Commissioners and the Chiefs, and everybody.”

As it stands now, the Town of Hanover contracts with all five departments for a part of what is now District 2. That will change with the new district, with portions of District 2 being encompassed within the new district’s lines.

“In this new district, we’re going to take some of that and give it to the two that raised their hands and want to become progressive and responsible,” Feldmann said.

Aside from the district line, another pressing question for the merged district is what happens to each department’s fire hall and equipment. As it stands now, Pelletter believes it makes the most sense to have Sunset Bay maintain its own building and Silver Creek negotiate with the Village for use of its fire hall.

“The idea was a taxing district,” Pelletter said. “As far as I’m concerned, they can keep what they want to.”

Perhaps the most pressing question of all, however, is establishing a Board of Commissioners to govern the new district. Typically a board of its kind would have between 3-9 members. The new District Board would be in charge of setting the fire tax rate and managing the finances; setting the standards of the district; and will assume liability for how the district operates, rather than the Town Board. The issue of liability was another reason why the Town Board wanted to get out from its current structure of governance over all five departments. The Town Board prefers that firefighters and commissioners be responsible for fire protection related issues, rather than micromanaging five fire companies.

Because of the timing of the merger — targeted for this fall — the attorney facilitating the merger, Brad Pinsky, advised the Town Board of how to fill its first District Board. The initial District Board would be appointed by the Town, comprised of firemen and residents who are not members of a fire department. After that, the positions would be up for election, beginning next year. The positions will likely be staggered with terms of different lengths to avoid complete turnover all at once in future years.

Phil Michalowski, a resident of the town, volunteered to serve on the initial District Board. Michalowski, a U.S. veteran and retired firefighter, previously addressed the Town Board in strong opposition to a proposed battery energy storage system in the town.

Weiskerger said previously that he was not concerned about who would be named the Fire Chief of the new district. He previously stated, “It’s time to put the politics aside.”

At the recent meeting, Weiskerger addressed criticism that both departments and the Town Board faced on social media in the months leading up to the decision to support a merger. He defended Pelletter’s motives for creating one taxing district.

“Truth be told, Lou’s plan right from the get-go was that all five fire companies would merge into one, nobody would lose their identity, and the Board would fully fund that merger for all of us to stay in existence. Some chose not to jump aboard, and that’s where we are today,” Weiskerger said. “… Ultimately, we were all given the same opportunity.”

A public hearing regarding the joint fire district will be held at the beginning of a regular Town Board meeting set for Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. at Silver Creek Central School.