Letter to the editor: Township responds to letter regarding fire-protection contract with City

September 20, 2024

As Supervisor of Manchester Township, I am disappointed with the hostile and disparaging tone of your September 17, 2024, letter [see letter embedded in Letter to the Editor: Township ignores City request for fire protection contract] that Mayor Vailliencourt publicly read at the September Township Board meeting. You accuse the Township of “lack of response” yet you fail to acknowledge that you and the city are demanding that the Township pay nearly $1,000,000 of Township taxpayer dollars to settle the asset division. You also fail to acknowledge that numerous times since July 2023, you and the city manager have received the same fire and rescue contract that all the other contracting municipalities have signed, yet you refuse to sign it without modification. 

In good faith, the Township Board has been carefully considering various components of your offer. But, as you should be aware, the Board can only fully assemble to meet and discuss at open meetings, as required by the Open Meetings Act. Since your August 8 proposal, there has been a single meeting, with a second meeting held the same night you presented your letter. Yet, your letter resorts to attempted bullying and threats related to suing the Township, which will only run up costs for all involved. Clearly, your comments are unproductive and uncalled for when leaders of both entities should be working hard to keep the community cohesive … not divided. The Township will not be bullied into offering discounted services to the city or funding its new incorporation through tax dollars, shared revenue, and community donations that rightly belong to Township residents and the fire department. 

Further, I am confused and dismayed by your false accusation the Township Board has any concerns with the city’s incorporation. To be clear, the Township Board has no issue with the city’s incorporation. The city, its council, and its residents were entitled to this decision and have responsibility for any results of the decision. It seems hypocritical then, that you fail to understand the residents of the Township are entitled to the Township Board’s due diligence and careful consideration of asset division to ensure that the division is fair, equitable, and not a money grab to fund the city’s incorporation. The Township Board has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the Township residents and the fire department from having to scramble to provide the same high level of fire and rescue protection that thousands of community residents have come to rely on. 

You continue to claim that the Township has not provided the city with a fire contract, even doing so at the September meeting of the Southwest Washtenaw Council of Governments. This is a blatant lie. Even before the village became a city, members of the Township Board met with members of your council on July 19, 2023. Copies of the fire contract, signed by Bridgewater Township, Sharon Township, and Freedom Township, were provided. The three–part formula used for fire billing to each community was explained and discussed. On September 7, 2023, I offered to prepare a fire contract between the Township and the yet–to–be incorporated city so that it could be signed shortly after the election, should city become incorporated in the November 2023 election. On October 31, 2023, a fire contract between the Township and the village, or its successor, was provided to both you and the village manager. On November 15, 2023, an addendum to the fire contract, naming the city of Manchester, was emailed to both you and the now–city manager. On December 18, 2023, I sent you, the city manager, and the city clerk an email that I had received an amended fire contract addendum from the Township attorney and had forwarded it to Fred Lucas, city attorney. On July 17, 2024, I received a copy of the Township Fire and Rescue Service Contract from the city which had been unacceptably modified by the city. On August 12, 2024, I received yet another copy of the contract from you, which, once again, had been further modified in an unacceptable manner. Clearly, you were provided with numerous copies of the Fire and Rescue Contract, including clarifying addendums, yet you chose not to sign any of them. Meanwhile, since becoming a city, you have received two separate fire and rescue service bills, dating back to January 2024. To date, neither have been paid even though the city collected a fire millage from its residents.

As for the 2023 millage funds, the Township has always indicated to the city that it would fully reimburse the funds. The city has been well aware of this for months. The Township only collected the relevant millage funds at the direction of Washtenaw County because the city was not prepared to collect tax revenues. All parties agree that the Township is to pay the city $67,155.00 for the city’s share of the fire millage and $95,206.84 for the city’s share of operating millage. The Township will immediately pay these funds to the city when the city signs a release of claims and fire and rescue contract. Should the city choose to sign the release and the contract, the Township will send a check for the city’s share of the millage revenues by close of business on September 27, 2024. 

As for your claim that the Township would put city residents’ safety in jeopardy for not having a signed fire and rescue contract with the city, again, this is a blatant lie. In two separate emails to you and the city manager, I have stated that the fire department would continue to provide service until a contract could be signed. It is you who should be ashamed for using fearmongering to cause concern amongst city residents. I wonder if city residents would feel more secure knowing that the city has reached out to the Village of Clinton, inquiring about contracting for fire protection services, rather than signing a fair, equitable, and well-vetted contract with Manchester Township. 

Your threats to sue the Township only further highlight your willingness to escalate this matter to litigation and further divide the community. While you may deny that you are not trying to divide the community, the recent decision by your city council to withdraw from the Joint Planning Commission certainly appears divisive. 

As the Township Board members have continued to state throughout this process, the Township remains committed and willing to work with the city on a fair and amicable agreement. I, along with my fellow Board members, look forward to receipt of the city’s release of claims document and signed fire contract so that a millage reimbursements check in the previously agreed amount of $162,361.84 can be cut to the city and productive work can continue on asset division. 

Ron Milkey
Manchester Township Supervisor

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.