歪歪漫画

BEMIDJI 鈥� During its meeting on Tuesday, the Bemidji City Council revived a discussion on creating a fire district that would encompass Bemidji and the surrounding area, expressing interest in exploring the idea further with its partners.

Previously discussed over five years ago, a fire district would place fire services under one authority with representation from across the district. It would also have its own taxing authority, rather than being a part of city or township levies.

Currently, local fire service is provided through a joint powers agreement between the city of Bemidji and the Rural Fire Association, a system that brings together 15 townships and three cities to govern and fund fire service.

Bemidji Fire Chief Justin Sherwood explained that the current system has challenges, particularly when asking for approval on important items like staffing.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to ask permission (essentially) 18 times when I go to two boards,鈥� Sherwood said. 鈥淕etting approval from multiple stakeholders for something that is very, very important, that鈥檚 one of the challenges Deputy Chief Yavarow and I have.鈥�

Sherwood hopes that a fire district, by bringing the service under one board, would make the process easier. He also hopes that funding would be more transparent as its own line item on community members鈥� taxes.

鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 understand our budget or why we鈥檙e here, and we鈥檇 become more transparent with our own line item and an organization that people trust,鈥� Sherwood explained.

The conversation on a potential fire district is only in its early stages, however, with Tuesday鈥檚 work session bringing in John Ehret and Steve White from Minnesota鈥檚 State Fire Marshal Division to outline what the process would look like.

鈥淎cross Minnesota, cities are doing exactly what you鈥檙e doing here in Bemidji,鈥� Ehret said. 鈥淓vidently (Bemidji and its partners) decided maybe it鈥檚 time we pull a team together to explore doing something different.鈥�

If pursued, the process would begin with a study and the creation of a committee with representatives from each stakeholder group.

After that鈥檚 established, the committee would begin discussing how the current system operates, where it falls short and what changes could be made for improvement.

鈥淲e learn the good, the bad and the ugly of what we鈥檙e dealing with,鈥� White said.

The creation of a fire district wouldn鈥檛 be guaranteed. The committee would be looking at a wide variety of potential solutions, including an adjustment of the current agreement.

鈥淵ou may discover you鈥檙e doing things exactly right and you just need to tweak the joint agreement,鈥� Ehret said.

If pursued, the average time it takes to create a fire district is around five years, and Ehret and White shared that the State Fire Marshals Division would be there to help with the process from beginning to end.

鈥淗ow we make (the fire service) work is getting tougher all the time,鈥� White shared. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a service that requires commitment, dedication and real leaders that make it what it鈥檚 meant to be. 鈥� How do we make this job better, safer, more economical for everybody?鈥�

The council responded favorably to the presentation, expressing interest in exploring the potential of a fire district further.

The council also hoped that the discussion would be more successful than it was the first time the idea was proposed, with Ward 3 Councilor Ron Johnson recalling that much of it fell through previously due to funding challenges.

鈥淚 remember it fell apart rapidly once we saw the cost distribution,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥�(Funding) did favor the city the way they used the formula, and the townships would (have) seen a hike.鈥�

This iteration of the potential would be different, however, with Sherwood explaining that since the first discussion fell through several changes have been made to state legislation and the local stakeholders have shifted.

鈥淓very stakeholder is brand new, the legislation has changed, the funding model has changed, our philosophy as firefighters (and) fire chiefs has changed,鈥� Sherwood said. 鈥淪o we鈥檝e restarted it, and I鈥檓 going to say we鈥檝e restarted it from scratch.鈥�