Pleasant Ridge Rescinds Notice to Terminate Fire Service with Ferndale

On June 6, the City of Ferndale received a letter from the City of Pleasant Ridge giving it notice it will terminate its 88-year fire contract in 2013, as the current contract requires it to give a two-year notice. On June 7, Ferndale received a second letter, rescinding the first.

"I'm not exactly sure what's going on," Ferndale Councilman Scott Galloway said during Monday's City Council meeting after bringing up the letters.

Pleasant Ridge City Manager Sherry Ball said it was a mix-up. "The city attorney was asked to draft a letter – somehow there was a mix-up in his office – and it was sent to Ferndale," she said Tuesday afternoon. "It was a great embarrassment. We contacted Ferndale's city manager and apologized.

"There is an item on the Pleasant Ridge agenda, however, to consider the notice to terminate the Ferndale fire protection agreement."

Ball has said her city has been looking at the public safety model for some time. Public safety is officers who are trained in police and fire protection. If Pleasant Ridge moves toward public safety, it would have to sever its contract with Ferndale.

Pleasant Ridge has also explored a collaborative agreement with Berkley, which utilizes a public safety department, to share protection services.

In the meantime, Pleasant Ridge has entered into a fire agreement with Berkley that would ensure the city fire protection if it were to end the contract with Ferndale. Ball has called this .

Ball has said that if Pleasant Ridge breaks with Ferndale, it's not for lack of services, but that the city is just exploring alternative methods of services.

Pleasant Ridge's contract with Ferndale cost it about $300,000 a year. It has been as high as $430,000, Ferndale Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan said. Ferndale Interim City Manager Mark Wollenweber said the contract is continually being renegotiated. In the fiscal year ending 2013, the contract will cost Pleasant Ridge $265,000, Sullivan said.

Under the agreement with Berkley, Pleasant Ridge would pay $104,000 for the year beginning July 1, 2013; $109,000 for the year beginning July 1, 2014; and a fee to be set in 2015, if needed.

Pleasant Ridge has been trying to get the cost below $200,000, Galloway said. However, when Galloway, Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter and Wollenweber met with Pleasant Ridge officials on April 12, as part of an annual meeting the two cities have, there was no discussion of contract termination.

"We don't want to lose them," Galloway said after the meeting. "The concern for me is our communities are linked."

Pleasant Ridge is part of Ferndale's School District.

Galloway said he doesn't see how Berkley could offer the immediate fire protection that Ferndale can. "There are five points of entry into Pleasant Ridge from Ferndale," Galloway said. "From Berkley, there is Woodward, across 696."

Nothing has been finalized and a notice to terminate the fire contract doesn't necessarily mean that the contract will be terminated, Galloway said.

The issue will be discussed tonight at the Pleasant Ridge City Commission meeeting. Items on the agenda regarding a fire contract include:

• Consideration of the agreement between the City of Berkley and the City of Pleasant Ridge for Fire Protection Services.
• Consideration of the Notice to Terminate Ferndale Fire Protection Agreement, pursuant to Paragraph 1 of the Amendment to Ferndale/Pleasant Ridge Fire Protection Agreement dated July 6, 2005.
• Consideration of authorizing the city manager to continue ongoing negotiations with the City of Berkley regarding Public Safety.

The meeting tonight is at 7:30 p.m. at 4 Ridge Rd,. Pleasant Ridge, at the Pleasant Ridge Community Center.