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Peoria Heights Fire Department news (more)

Jul 23

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from 25newsnow.com:

Fire services in Peoria Heights will now be taken care of by two municipalities.

Village trustees approved a contract with the city of Peoria at its regular meeting Tuesday evening.  The village will spend more than $300,000 to have Peoria supplement and help out on fire calls Peoria Heights receives.

With the assistance of the Peoria Fire Department, 90% of Peoria Heights will have a response time of under four minutes for fire calls.

The contract is needed because volunteers within the Peoria Heights Fire Department have decreased, to the point where disbanding the 106-year-old department was considered.

Peoria Heights is also seeking a new fire chief, who will be tasked with trying to increase numbers in the department. Previous chiefs have tried cadet programs at Peoria Heights High School to help increase numbers., but it’s still a struggle to find volunteers.

Applications for a fire chief have come in, and interviews should be happening in the near future.

 

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Peoria Heights Fire Department news (more)

Jun 29

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from 25newsnow.com:

The room was packed Tuesday afternoon in the Peoria Heights Village Hall for a historic public safety decision.

During the special meeting, the village went back and forth on whether to outsource the 106-year-old volunteer fire department to the City of Peoria.

The concerns and frustrations were visible on the faces of the firefighters, EMTs, and residents in attendance. The board of trustees weighed all options, with representatives of both Peoria Heights and Peoria fire departments on hand to answer questions.

Peoria Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger made it clear that the Peoria Heights administration approached City Manager Patrick Urich on if a change would help. He added Peoria fire could get to 93% of calls in Peoria Heights within four minutes.

Two trustees said the most surprising comment came from fellow trustee Matt Wigginton.

He said there is an Illinois law saying local governments serving more than 500 people cannot abolish a fire department without passing a voter referendum.

“In all of our discussions, we’ve heard it’s either this or that,” said Trustee Wigginton. “It’s either you do this and can’t do that. Well, I think we can do both. And frankly, I don’t see another way legally to do it.”

Wigginton said it’s possible to use a model that would use both fire departments.

No action was taken on the proposed idea.

The Peoria Heights Village Board is expected to meet on the matter again next month. No date has been set.

thanks Dennis

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Peoria Heights Fire Department news

Jun 27

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 4 Comments

Excerpts from 25newsnow.com:

The Peoria Heights Village Board of Trustees has wrestled with whether or not to outsource its volunteer fire department, but there were talks of transferring the services to the City of Peoria during last week’s board meeting.

The Village of Peoria Heights has discussed this potential move since 20-19. The village administrator believes it could better protect residents, but Peoria fire’s projected costs for fire calls and EMS services would exceed the budgeted amount for 2022 in Peoria Heights. The budget for all fire and EMS last year was $407,000. The projected cost for fire calls alone, if the board of trustees outsources the service, is $1,600 per call.

It’s unclear whether any agreement would be per call or a flat annual rate.

Terms of the contract have not been negotiated yet. The mayor of Peoria Heights said they can’t afford to pay a professional department, and the citizens of the village deserve to have more than one firefighter on duty at a time.

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