The Town Board called the meeting with the intent of presenting the five fire departments with the reasons for consolidation. The Town hoped to establish one fire district that encompassed all five departments, with one tax rate for all Town residents to cover the fire protection costs.

Town of Hanover Deputy Supervisor Bernie Feldmann spoke frankly at the meeting. He does not want the Town Board to be the one in charge of the Town’s fire departments. He said, “I’m not a fireman. I never was a fireman. This should be run by fire persons.”

After two hours of discussion, including expert testimony from an emergency coordinator who went through the same process a year ago and the advice of an attorney who also served as a fire chief, the Town wound up in the same place it was two hours earlier.

Not only could minds not be changed over the course of two hours — in several cases, they were made up before they even entered the room.

Noel Guttman, Chautauqua County Emergency Coordinator, spoke to how the Mayville, Dewittwille and Hartfield departments merged into one fire district, now known as the North Lake Fire District, within the past year.

The Town of Hanover is served by five fire departments — Silver Creek, Sunset Bay, Hanover Center, Irving, and Forestville. The latter three of those five fire departments all pushed back against consolidation.

Upon the advice of the departments, the Town asked Brad Pinsky, an attorney focused on Fire and Emergency Service agencies, to join the meeting via Zoom to discuss the reasons for consolidation and how the process would take place.

Pinsky spoke and answered questions for nearly an hour. He stated that consolidation is not likely to save money initially because of the cost to bring multiple departments together under the same standards and with the same equipment. However, in the long run, those costs could decrease once the need for major purchases arises down the road.

The Town’s Accountant, Elmar Kiefer, believes that by taxing all Town residents as part of one district, the money collected for fire protection would double.

While Pinsky does not agree with the sentiment that a fire district will collect more money for fire protection, he stated the reasons to focus on consolidation should not be financially driven. Instead, the focus should be on efficiency, from similar equipment, a centralized location, and the same training and procedures.

Nearly every seat was filled at the Hanover Town Hall for a discussion regarding fire department consolidation earlier this week. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

Pinsky, as a former Fire Chief, addressed the hesitance to change. He said, “We have this horrible word: ‘my’ — my department, my territory. There’s no ‘my’. This is the community’s fire department. … The first question we should be asking is, ‘What is best for the community?’ There is a lot of good that can come from consolidation.”

Following Pinsky’s discussion, the two highest ranking members Town Board — Supervisor Lou Pelletter and Deputy Supervisor Bernie Feldmann — made their stances known.

Pelletter, as not just the Town Supervisor but also the Village Historian, stated that he has no personal desire to shut down or change any of the departments. Instead, he is pushing for one fire district to tax all residents of the Town of Hanover equally. The fire district and its commissioners would be in charge of running operations, with the Town only involved as taxpayers and tax collectors.

“I’d just assume keep all the fire departments the way they are. I’m looking at it from the monetary point of view, one taxing district,” Pelletter said. “What you guys do with your fire hall, I don’t care. You can keep exactly what you have. The problem is you guys might not be able to get along — it isn’t me. I’m just saying one tax bill.”

“If I had my way, it would be one district with one Board of Commissioners, getting a nice tax rate for all of you so that you could all get where you need to be,” Feldmann said. “That’s not going to happen overnight.”

Noel Guttman, Chautauqua County Emergency Coordinator, spoke to how the Mayville, Dewittwille and Hartfield departments merged into one fire district, now known as the North Lake Fire District. Guttman said discussions began approximately one year ago, and by early September, the district was operating as one.

Guttman spoke favorably of the consolidation he has witnessed firsthand. Speaking to the five departments in attendance, Guttman said he believed that together, they would be a “powerhouse.”

Mark Woolley, of Forestville, pushed back against forming one district, claiming that a creating a district would cost each department its own identity. One resident fired back by saying, “It should not be about identity. … If you want to be a firefighter to help your community, that’s what you should do. Who cares what’s on the t-shirt? It’s not about that.”

The Town has offered to spend $40,000 for Pinsky to facilitate consolidation of the five departments into one district, rather than asking the departments to foot the bill.

Still, that was not enough to change some of the departments’ minds.

Some.

From the Town’s perspective, the meeting was not just a waste of two hours. Aside from providing transparency for residents to see the Town Board was in favor of consolidation, two of the departments did seem willing to explore the topic further.

The most outspoken in favor of consolidation of the five fire chiefs in attendance was Rob Weiskerger, of Sunset Bay, who has also served as the Town’s Disaster Coordinator.

“It’s why we’re here,” Weiskerger said. “We’re here to get qualified people there as soon as possible, to save lives and save property.”

Weiskerger feels that having more qualified firefighters to pull from in the case of an emergency is much more important than what department they represent or who gets the title of Fire Chief.

Weiskerger said after the meeting that “it only makes sense” to combine forces within the Town.

“It’s going to make our lives easier, which makes the residents’ lives easier, and that’s why we’re here,” Weiskerger said. “It’s time to put the politics aside.”

Silver Creek Fire Chief Brandyn Griewisch also appeared to be willing to entertain a collaboration with Sunset Bay, while it was the other three departments — Hanover Center, Irving, and Forestville — that were less receptive of the idea. Hanover Center and Irving both want to remain their own department, while Forestville is looking to expand its coverage as its own department.

Weiskerger acknowledged he was caught off guard by just how opposed to consolidation some of the other departments were. “I guess I thought we were all heading in the same direction until tonight,” he said.

Pelletter, however, was not surprised. He said by holding the public forum, everyone could see how the process goes and what the hold-up is.

Regarding next steps, the Town is encouraged by the willingness of the Silver Creek and Sunset Bay departments to entertain a collaborative solution. Pelletter said he will speak further with the Village regarding a potential partnership between the two departments moving forward. He did not rule out offering financial support to facilitate a merger.

Pinsky cautioned the Town against an all-or-nothing approach in offering support for a merger or consolidation in some way. Even if only two departments wanted to move forward with a merger, it could be a great benefit to the Town, financially or otherwise.

“We have to do something,” Pelletter said. “We’re going to see what that something is.”