At an emergency council meeting Thursday, Wayne-Westland Fire Chief Michael Reddy and Wayne Police Chief Alan Maciag each made presentations about their respective departments in the wake of a public safety millage being rejected by voters.

“People voted down joining Hazel Park and Eastpointe in an authority - they didn’t vote to shut down the fire department,” said Reddy, who heads the merged Wayne-Westland Fire Department.

While councilmembers voiced opposition to cutting fire or police services, the city general fund is projected to run out of money by the end of 2017. The city has a structural deficit of $1.5 million in the current year, a number expected to increase annually going forward.

Wayne and Westland merged their fire departments operationally in 2011. Reddy noted the merger had saved Wayne $1 million with Westland seeing slightly higher savings since 2011.

Over that time period, Wayne had made budget cuts that reduced the city’s number of firefighters from 21 to the current 12. The departments have a shared chief while Westland provides the deputy chief, assistant chief, fire marshal and other positions.

Last year, Wayne spent $350,000 on overtime to keep the fire station manned at four firefighters per shift. That budget item was cut to $50,000 which would largely leave the fire station manned by three firefighters.

With only three firefighters, Reddy said a choice would have to be made between operating the fire engine or rescue unit. If the city tried go to two firefighters per shift, he said responding to a fire could be difficult - there are supposed to be two firefighters outside when two others enter a burning building.

Despite the reduced staffing, Reddy noted Wayne EMS generated $600,000 in revenue last year offsetting the $350,000 in overtime.

“The fire department has proven it can run with minimum staff but with overtime still provide excellent service,” said Reddy. “The fire department has significantly reduced operating costs over four years.”

Reddy urged the council to review the merger agreements before making any decisions.

“Major cuts like manning are issues that could affect the merger. Westland would have to look at it,” said Reddy. “The agreements are pretty concrete. There would be ramifications if you break them. It is a good partnership. I would hate to see a poor decision on one thing affect it.”

Short staffing could also impact Wayne’s ability to participate in Mutual Aid, Reddy said, since each must be able to recipirocate services.

Like Reddy, Maciag went back to 2008 noting Wayne had 44 police officers compared to 20 officers today including himself. Not filling two vacant but budgeted police officer positions would save $180,000.

The department reorganized as staffing was cut, Maciag said, with officers going to 12-hour shifts, eliminating the deputy chief position and no longer assigning officers to traffic investigations, as school resource officers or to regional units.

“Our investigations unit has one lieutenant and one detective. They handle major felonies - 433 cases (last year). That’s a lot for two guys,” Maciag said. “Even with 22 officers in the budget we are still short-handed.”

If the police department has to go to a staffing of two officers in solo cars on each shift, Maciag said he was concerned about officer safety and the ability to respond to calls.

“I can’t stress how dire this situation is with only two officers patroling the city,” said Maciag, commenting that if there was a situation like a domestic violence call or a major incident, there would be no one patroling or responding to other calls.

With only two officers on duty, Maciag said the station would have to be locked with a schedule of hours when it would be open. Like Reddy, Maciag also had concerns about the department being able to provide recipirocal assistance under Mutual Aid.

Had the millage been approved, the council had committed to hiring four police officers and three firefighters. Wayne is also waiting to hear about a federal SAFER grant that would fund up to six firefighters.

lrogers@hometownlife.com

(734)883-9039

Twitter: @LRogersObserver

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