The Chelsea Area Fire Authority (CAFA) met on Tuesday, Nov. 18 and unanimously approved a proposed about $1.3 budget for next year, which is an increase of 4.4 percent over this year’s budget.
The proposed budget will now be sent to the member municipalities for their consideration and comment. Those communities are Lima, Lyndon, and Sylvan townships, as well as the City of Chelsea.
If the municipalities approve the proposed 2015 budget, the CAFA board will give the budget its final stamp of approval at the Dec. 16 meeting.
As negotiations are still ongoing between CAFA and the firefighter’s union, a cover letter will be included with the budget indicating that certain line items in the budget are subject to change following the conclusion of union negotiations when a contract is finalized.
According to board member Kurt Kosek, union negotiations are in the final stages, and a contract can be anticipated for the board’s review by early 2015.
In other news, members of shift two (Scott Basar, Bill Regnier, and Eric Stanley) received praise for their response to a call to the Arctic Coliseum on Oct. 1 which resulted in the saving of a man’s life.
According to a letter written by then Acting Captain Scott Basar, “We arrived with HVA (Huron Valley Ambulance) and took over CPR from a bystander that was already on the scene. Together, we continued CPR for the next 20 minutes, we were able to get pulses back and by the time the ambulance reached the U-M emergency room, the patient was alert and talking.”
Basar said although firefighters face similar situations all the time, “It is not very often we get the outcome that we hope for.”
Work is progressing on the Lima Township substation. According to Board Member Craig Maier, the block work is done and the roof will be completed soon. Interior work on the building can then begin. It is hoped that the substation will be ready for occupancy near the first of the year.
