Athens to consider fire charges
The Athens Village Board adjourned its monthly meeting after about 25 minutes on Monday, but trustees remained at the table for another half-hour and talked about how the village may start billing its residents for fire calls.
Trustees have wanted a fair billing system for several years. They point out that neighboring towns bill their residents up to $1,000 for each fire call and then deposit those payments in their general funds.
If four fire calls were to occur within the village, for example, trustees say the village would be losing out on $4,000 each year.
However, trustees have been reluctant to bill residents for fire calls because those residents already pay property taxes for fire services – but so do town residents.
The village bills residents for ambulance calls because health insurance generally covers the payment, whereas homeowners insurance policies may or may not cover a fire call depending on the type of call.
Village Clerk Lisa Czech told Andy Thurs, chairman of the village’s fire and police committee, to schedule a committee meeting and invite representatives from the townships who belong to the Athens Area Fire Commission to discuss the fire call billing format and how it could be changed.
Other business
â– The board approved a four-year, $1,562 contract with Sheboygan Warning
Systems for fire siren maintenance.
â– The board approved the hiring of Switlick & Sons of Athens for $7,800 to replace a storm drain on a street in the industrial park and for sidewalk ramp repairs by Athens Cafe, the Village Square and on the corner of Schlegel and Mueller streets.
â– The board authorized the village to special assess residents on Maple Street for the recently completed street project.
