Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette The Calumet Township Fire Department, an outgrowth of the former Calumet and Hecla Mining Company’s Hecla Fire Station, is one of three separate departments in the township being considered for consolidating into one Fire Authority.

CALUMET TOWNSHIP – Officials of Calumet Township and the villages of Calumet and Laurium are making progress on possibly consolidating their fire departments into one authority.

Laurium Village Manager Ian Lewis has initiated the next step in the process at the village’s December Council meeting Tuesday when he presented proposed Articles of Incorporation regarding the consolidation.

The articles have been submitted to Calumet Township Supervisor Tim Gasperich and Calumet Village Manager Megan Haselden.

The Articles were drafted by Lewis, who while an attorney, is not licensed in Michigan. He said the information was taken from several other municipalities who have gone through a similar process. Some things will be left to legal counsel. Intergovernmental agreements will ensure training together and continued mutual aid.

Lewis said the next step is for the respective bodies to review the drafted articles and provide him with any insight, questions, concerns or feedback that may be generated. “Next month, we hope to go over all those questions about the articles,” he said. “Once we have all the feedback from the three boards, I’ll created another draft.” Lewis said the second draft will then be submitted to an attorney for review, and “hopefully, we’ll get this thing moving in the next couple months.”

The plan to consolidate the departments began last summer when Calumet Township Supervisor Tim Gasperich started a discussion at that month’s regular meeting of the possible formation of a Consolidated Fire Authority to combine the Villages with the Township.

At the July 15 regular meeting of the Calumet Village Council, the trustees unanimously approved a motion to continue consolidation discussions with Laurium and Calumet Township. Lewis said the question of consolidating the three fire departments comes down to how can the three better serve the area, how can they work together and how can three expenses be eliminated in exchange for just one expense.

Calumet Township’s Master Plan, approved in April, mentions considerable barriers to consolidation such as bond debt, tradition and history. The Village of Laurium is currently exploring the feasibility of incorporating as a city government. Gasperich said the debt could still be an issue, but finances are being considered. He said he is in favor of the consolidation. “I’ve been on the Calumet Village Fire Dept. for many, many years,” he said. “We’re having a hard time getting members and holding members.

Laurium’s fire dept. is experiencing a similar problem, while Calumet Township is doing a little bit better. “They’ve been able to hold on to members, so it definitely is time to be doing this,” Gasperich said.

Gasperich’s comment echoed those that Laurium Fire Chief Dan Zubiena made in August. He said many firefighters are getting older and do not feel they can retire leaving their departments short. He suggested younger folks would like to be involved with Calumet Township because there is more activity there. Zubiena also talked about equipment.

“There is a lot of duplications. Repairs to equipment are not cheap,” he said. “We lose guys to the Township because young guys are excited to be involved and want to go on more calls. For too long, no one wanted to talk about it. This is a good time to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Gasperich said officials with all three fire departments have been working together on the consolidation efforts.

Calumet Village officials could not be reached for comment by press time.