Posts Tagged Finance Director David Danielson

Talks progress towards consolidating fire department services

The Courier-News has an article about the consolidation talks between the Carpentersville and West Dundee Fire Departments:

As talks continue on the possibility of Carpentersville and West Dundee consolidating fire services, local officials are eager to keep the momentum going.

To that end, West Dundee board members authorized village staff Monday to develop a request for proposal to determine the cost of an in-depth study on consolidation.

West Dundee Village President Chris Nelson said an outside entity can help officials “evaluate the prospect of the consolidation because it is a very complex issue.”

The scope of the possible consolidation has also broadened, with both East Dundee Fire District and Rutland-Dundee Township Fire Protection Districts showing an interest. Efforts are underway currently to take steps toward a more functional consolidation, where the fire department districts would remain separate but work together more in responding to incidents and purchasing equipment.

West Dundee Chief Randy Freise told village officials that Carpentersville has agreed to provide battalion chief coverage in West Dundee for all structure fires, vehicle accidents with extrication, and major incidents at Spring Hill Mall.

Freise also plans to meet with East Dundee Fire Chief Steve Schmitendorf and Carpentersville Deputy Chief John Skillman to discuss the possibility of sharing a training officer.

Nelson said having consistent training not only saves money but also makes sure firefighters are working together and operating as a team.

“Not just for the village of West Dundee but for the other departments and taxpayers,” Nelson said. “Our ultimate goal is to enhance the service level in an affordable way. It’s great we’re able to move the ball on this.”

thanks Dan

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Fire departments discuss consolidation

The Daily Herald has an article about discussions between Carpentersville and West Dundee to consolidate their fire departments.

Carpentersville and West Dundee officials have started preliminary discussions on consolidating services within their fire departments, talks that come at a critical time for West Dundee’s finances. The nature of the consolidation, the services involved and the money it could save have not been determined, but future talks are expected to lay out that groundwork.

“There will be a math problem that shows all the communities why we should do it,” Carpentersville Village Manager J. Mark Rooney told the audit and finance commission last week. “The political will’s the back half of this.”

West Dundee is projected to lose between $300,000 and $400,000 in annual sales tax revenues once its Target store closes in May. Village officials are expected to discuss the financial ramifications next month during budget proceedings, Finance Director David Danielson said.

Carpentersville budgeted more than $5.5 million for its fire department in the fiscal year ending April 30. The department fields 32 full-time firefighters and 29 part-timers. The West Dundee Fire Department, meanwhile, consists of 11 full-time firefighters and 30 part-timers. Officials there budgeted almost $2 million for the fire department, Danielson said.

The consolidation talks started about a month ago with a meeting between West Dundee Fire Chief Randy Friese, West Dundee Village Manager Joseph Cavallaro, Rooney, Village President Ed Ritter and Public Safety Director Al Popp, who oversees both the police and fire departments in Carpentersville.

Three years ago, discussions on consolidation among police departments in West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow and East Dundee fell apart after Sleepy Hollow pulled out over autonomy issues and after concluding the village wouldn’t save as much money as officials hoped.

thanks Dan

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