Ferndale City Council to Vote on Shared Fire Services Agreement Monday

Ferndale City Council will vote Monday on a request to approve the continuation of a contract with Pleasant Ridge for shared fire and ambulance services.

Ferndale City Manager April McGrath said not much has changed about the contract, but renewing it was an opportunity to discuss the partnership with Pleasant Ridge.

"It just was an opportunity for us to kind of sit down and talk with them and make sure they were happy with our services," she said.

Ferndale has provided fire services for Pleasant Ridge for the past 90 years, she said.

“We are excited to continue our 90-year fire service partnership with Pleasant Ridge,” Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter said in a press release from the Ferndale city manager's office. "Resolving this agreement with our neighbors was a high priority for council."

Ferndale City Council will consider the agreement at its meeting Monday, and the Pleasant Ridge City Commission is scheduled to vote on the agreement Tuesday.

On June 15, .

“We were disappointed to hear that announcement, but it has been an opportunity to talk with Pleasant Ridge and become a stronger partner,” Coulter said.

Pleasant Ridge Mayor Ralph Castelli said considering other options was a difficult but necessary choice.

“We still want to have a strong, healthy relationship with our neighbors,” Castelli said in the news release. “Considering alternatives to our relationship with Ferndale was a difficult thing to do, but we felt we needed to explore our options as it relates to fire services, and the contract required an extensive notice provision.”

McGrath said the contract required Pleasant Ridge to give two years' notice before a cancellation could occur. The new contract with the city of Ferndale requires Pleasant Ridge to continue the agreement until at least 2016, McGrath said.

The agreement would continue indefinitely, barring any termination from either city, she said.

Coulter said he is glad the two cities were able to work together "in a way that provides important benefits for both communities."

"I think it represents the beginning of an even stronger relationship with our friends in Pleasant Ridge as we both face the challenges of an uncertain economic future," he said.