Saukville, Grafton proceed with EMS merger

The villages of Saukville and Grafton are moving ahead with plans to formalize shared fire and ambulance departments, despite the fact that the cities of Port Washington and Cedarburg — originally envisioned to be part of the joint department — seem to be moving in a different direction.

“We recognize something needs to be done, and we’re committed to moving forward in a timely manner,” Grafton Village Administrator Jesse Thyes said. “Grafton and Saukville are very serious about this.

“We’re making a joint commitment. The direction is trending toward a consolidation, but we need to study what it would look like and how it would happen.”

But, Thyes said, that doesn’t mean that other communities such as Port or Cedarburg couldn’t join those talks.

“If there’s a way services can be improved for a larger area, great,” he said. “We’re open to that. Each community has to vet the possibilities on their own merits. I respect that.

“But we wanted to emphasize our commitment to look at this and move forward.”

Cedarburg officials have said they plan to move ahead as an independent department.

Port aldermen recently put off a decision on whether to remain an independent department until late summer after questions lingered over a preliminary study that showed that may be more cost effective than consolidation.

The idea of consolidation has come up as the departments throughout the county have struggled to find volunteer firefighters and ambulance crews.

A 2021 study by the Wisconsin Policy Forum said there could be “efficient and effective” advantages to joint services.

“While the nine fire departments maintain strong working relationships that help plug some service gaps, they also face severe challenges that promise to intensify over time,”the study states.

“Those challenges are now sufficiently acute to justify immediate investment in service and staffing enhancement, which would be most effective and efficient if made as part of a broad-based, systemic collaboration.”

In their statement, Saukville and Grafton officials said they will hold an open house in the near future to get feedback from residents on what they want a joint service to look like.

“As a team, we want to make sure we engage the public early on,” Thyes said. “We don’t want to surprise anyone.”

The public input will be valuable in determining what a joint department might look like and what it should offer, officials said.

“We want to know what the community expects from the fire department. Do they want the gold standard?” Bill Rice, who is chief of both the Grafton and Saukville departments, said. “What’s the desired response time? What if we have a number of calls at one time. Do we want to be able to respond to two calls? Three? Is there something else the community wants that we haven’t thought of?”

The communities will work with the towns of Grafton and Saukville as they take steps forward, Thyes added.

“A consolidation of departments is indicative of improved fire/EMS service to the greater community,” he said.

There is still much to study, Thyes said, including the number of staff members that would be needed and the necessary equipment.

They also need to consider what sort of structure a joint department might require and the associated costs, he added.

The Saukville and Grafton fire departments, in many ways, are working as one unit. They share a fire chief in Rice, hold joint training exercises and make some point purchases.

“It’s been a slow process but somewhat intentional,” Rice said, noting it began with shared fire inspection services in 2019. “Now we’re moving a little faster.”

“We do interact a lot, but we’re two separate and distinct operations,” Thyes said.