[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Darien 2-27-2017 by Ord. No.
302.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 2.16,
Fire Department, adopted 4-16-2002 by Ord. No. 277.
This chapter is entitled the "Joint Fire and EMS Department of the Village of Darien and Town of Darien, Walworth County, Wisconsin" (hereinafter this "Chapter 2.16"). The purpose of this Chapter 2.16 is to create and establish the governance of a joint fire and emergency medical services (hereinafter "EMS") department between the Village of Darien (hereinafter "Village") and the Town of Darien (hereinafter "Town"), in furtherance of the public's health, safety and welfare.
Pursuant to Sections 60.55(1)2., 60.565 and 61.64, Wis. Stats.,
there is hereby created a joint fire and EMS department of the Village
and the Town (hereinafter "Joint Department"). The Joint Department
shall be responsible for the delivery of fire protection, EMS, and
related services, including, without limitation, fire inspections
and petroleum storage tank inspections, to the service area of the
Village and Town, and such other areas designated by contract as approved
by the Village and the Town, and shall have such other powers and
duties as provided by law.
A.
Pursuant to Section 61.65(3g), Wis. Stats., there is hereby created
a joint commission of fire and EMS commissioners (hereinafter "Joint
Commission"). The Joint Commission shall consist of five citizens
(three of whom shall constitute a quorum), and be organized in the
same manner as boards of police and fire commissioners under Section
62.13(1), Wis. Stats.; provided, however, that the initial commissioners
shall serve staggered terms as provided herein, and further provided
that unless otherwise mutually agreed between the Town and the Village,
the Town Chairperson shall appoint two commissioners and the Village
President shall appoint two commissioners, and one commissioner shall
be chosen by agreement between the Town Chairperson and the Village
President. In the event that the Town Chairperson and the Village
President are unable to so agree within a period of 30 days, within
10 days following the end of such period the Town Chairperson and
the Village President shall each submit the name of a proposed commissioner
to the Town's attorney, and Town's attorney shall thereupon
select the commissioner by blind draw.
B.
The commissioners appointed by the Town Chairperson shall be citizens
of the Town. The commissioners appointed by the Village President
shall be citizens of the Village. The commissioner appointed by agreement
or blind draw may be a citizen of the Town or Village. No appointment
shall be made which will result in more than three members of the
Joint Commission belonging to the same political party, and no commissioner
may serve on the Town Board of Supervisors (hereinafter "Town Board"),
the Village Board of Trustees (hereinafter "Village Board"), or any
other board, committee or commission of the Village or Town, or serve
in any capacity in the Joint Department.
C.
Terms.
(1)
The initial appointments to the Joint Commission shall serve
for the following terms:
|
Appointment By
|
Term Expires
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Village President
|
April 30, 2018
| |
|
Town Chairperson
|
April 30, 2019
| |
|
Village President
|
April 30, 2020
| |
|
Town Chairperson
|
April 30, 2021
| |
|
Agreement or blind draw
|
April 30, 2022
|
(2)
Thereafter, the commissioners shall each serve for staggered
five-year terms, with appointments to the Joint Commission made annually,
between the last Monday of April and the first Monday of May, by the
Town Chairperson or the Village President of the municipality who
previously made the appointment to the position, or, in the case of
the position filled by agreement or blind draw, in a similar manner
as appropriate to the situation. All vacancies to the Joint Commission
shall likewise be filled by the Town Chairperson or Village President,
or by agreement or blind draw, as appropriate to the situation, with
the successor commissioner serving the remainder of his or her predecessor's
term. Commissioners may be removed from their respective positions
on the Joint Commission upon the majority vote of the Village Board
and the Town Board.
D.
The commissioners, by majority vote, shall annually elect a chairperson
and secretary of the Joint Commission, along with such other officers
as the commissioners deem necessary for the efficient operation of
the Joint Commission, with all such persons exercising the powers
customarily vested in their respective offices. Vacancies in any office
shall be filled by the majority vote of the commissioners, with the
successor officeholder serving the remainder of his or her predecessor's
term. In the event that the chairperson is unable to attend any meeting
of the Joint Commission, the commissioners in attendance shall elect
a substitute chairperson for such meeting, by majority vote. Meetings
of the Joint Commission shall be held at either the Village Hall or
the Town Hall, as designated by the chairperson of the Joint Commission,
with proper notice given, and with a record of each proceeding kept,
or caused to be kept, by the secretary of the Joint Commission. Commissioners
shall be entitled to such compensation as may be approved by the Village
Board and the Town Board from time to time, with the cost of such
compensation and other expenses of the Joint Commission shared by
the Village and Town in the same proportion as the expenses of the
Joint Department.
E.
In addition to the provisions of this Chapter 2.16 and all other applicable law, the Joint Commission and Joint Department shall be subject to and operate under the provisions of Section 62.13(2) though (12), Wis. Stats., which are incorporated into this Chapter 2.16 by reference as if fully set forth herein, to the extent such provisions apply to second or third class cities, provided the optional powers of a Joint Commission listed in Section 62.13(6), Wis. Stats., shall apply only if the electors in each municipality approve such powers by referendum. In applying Section 62.13, Wis. Stats., the Village President shall have the powers and duties specified for a city mayor; the Village Clerk shall have the powers and duties specified for a comptroller; the Village Board has the powers and duties specified for a common council; the Village has the powers and duties specified for a city; the Town Chairperson has the powers and duties specified for a city mayor; the Town Clerk has the powers and duties specified for a comptroller; the Town Board has the powers and duties specified for a common council; and, the Town has the powers and duties specified for a city.
A.
The Joint Commission shall appoint a chief of the Joint Department
(hereinafter "Fire Chief"), who shall hold his or her office during
good behavior, subject to suspension or removal by the Joint Commission
for cause. The Fire Chief shall appoint subordinates, subject to approval
by the Joint Commission, and except as otherwise provided herein or
pursuant to Section 62.13, Wis. Stats., the Fire Chief shall have
command and control over all personnel connected with the Joint Department,
may organize and supervise the Joint Department, shall establish policies,
procedures, and protocols to meet the operational needs of the Joint
Department, and shall enforce the same. The Fire Chief shall have
control and custody, under the direction of the Village Board and
the Town Board, of all motorized vehicles, property, and equipment
of the Joint Department. The Fire Chief shall see that all equipment
is kept in first-class working order. The Fire Chief shall not serve
on the Village Board or the Town Board, nor be Chief of Police of
the Village or Chief Constable of the Town.
B.
The Fire Chief shall maintain an adequate record system for the Joint
Department, covering all phases of operation, its equipment, emergency
operations, and related matters.
C.
The Fire Chief shall make whatever reports shall be required by the
Joint Commission, the Village Board and/or the Town Board.
D.
Personnel of the Joint Department shall have tours of duty as ordered
by the Fire Chief.
E.
The Fire Chief shall have the right to appoint auxiliary persons
to perform specific tasks to meet the operational needs of the Joint
Department, within the budget allotments approved by the Village Board
and the Town Board.
A.
The Village Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection and disbursement of all funds of the Joint Department. This shall include, without limitation, billing for fire and EMS calls, pursuant to Section 2.16.120, below, and invoicing municipalities with which the Joint Department has contracted to provide service.
B.
The Village Treasurer shall report all expenses and revenues of the
Joint Department to the Village Board and the Town Board on a monthly
basis, and prepare a written annual report of all expenses and revenues
for each calendar year.
C.
The Village Treasurer shall submit to the Village Board and the Town
Board such annual report by March 1 of each year.
D.
Withdrawals of any Volunteer Funds, as defined in Section 2.16.080A(2), below, any Municipal Funds, as defined in Section 2.16.090A, below, or from any joint account of the Village and the Town, established pursuant to Section 2.16.090C, shall only be made through instruments signed by both the Village Treasurer and the Town Treasurer, or their respective designees.
A.
The Village Board and the Town Board shall appropriate funds to provide
for the operation of the Joint Department and for such apparatus and
equipment for the use of the Joint Department as the Village Board
and the Town Board may deem expedient and necessary to maintain efficiency
and properly train and equip the Joint Department.
B.
Personnel of the Joint Department may receive such compensation as
may from time to time be fixed by the Village Board and the Town Board.
C.
The Joint Department shall prepare and submit an annual budget to
the Village Board and the Town Board for approval prior to the annual
adoption of the budgets by the Village and the Town. These budgets
shall be on a calendar-year basis. The budget will include all revenue
sources, including contributions and all expenditures, including any
proposed training programs or equipment purchases.
D.
The final decision to fund to a given level will be by appropriations
by the Village Board and the Town Board as the taxing authorities
at either a joint meeting of the Village Board and the Town Board
or by separate meetings.
E.
Any unanticipated needs during the budget year shall be considered
and, if accepted, the budget shall be amended and the necessary appropriations
made by the Village Board and the Town Board.
F.
The approved budget will permit appropriate personnel of the Joint
Department to draw vouchers for expenditure of funds in accordance
with the budget.
G.
The Village and the Town will share the expenses for the Joint Department
by use of a combined formula comparing the percentage of equalized
value of improvements only between the Village and the Town and by
comparing the percentage of population between the Village and the
Town, with said formula being stated as follows:
For each municipality, determine the total equalized value for
the year in question and subtract the land value, leaving the equalized
value for improvements. Total that and calculate each municipality's
percentage thereof. Then calculate the total population for each municipality
as of the year in question and calculate the percentage of the total
thereof for each municipality. Average each municipality's percentage
for improvement and population and that percentage becomes the final
figure in determining shared expenses.
All assets of the Joint Department shall be titled to and under the ownership of the Village and the Town jointly. In the event this Chapter 2.16 is rescinded by either the Village or the Town, as provided herein, all assets of the Joint Department shall be then apportioned between and distributed to the Village and the Town in the same percentages as the Village and the Town were sharing the expenses of the Joint Department immediately prior to the time of rescission.
A.
Definitions.
(1)
"Public depository" means a federal or state credit union, federal
or state savings and loan association, state bank, savings and trust
company, federal or state savings bank, or national bank in this state
that receives or holds any public deposits or the local government
pooled investment fund.
(2)
"Volunteer funds" means funds that are raised by the Joint Department
or by donation to the Joint Department for the benefit of the Joint
Department.
B.
Accounts. The Village Treasurer is authorized to deposit volunteer funds in an account in the name of the Joint Department in any public depository, segregated from all other Village funds. The Fire Chief shall have exclusive control over the expenditure of volunteer funds, subject to the provisions of Subsection C, below, and as otherwise provided in this Chapter 2.16.
C.
Limitations on Accounts.
1.
Withdrawals and expenditures of volunteer funds from the account described in Subsection B, above, may not exceed the funds available in the account.
2.
All such withdrawals and expenditures must be promptly reported by
the Village Treasurer to the Fire Chief.
3.
Withdrawals and expenditures of volunteer funds may only be made
for purposes which promote the ability of the Joint Department to
provide the services for which it is organized, or in the event the
Joint Department accepts any volunteer funds in the form of a grant
that was earmarked by the grantor or solicited by the Joint Department
for a particular purpose, for such particular purpose.
4.
The Village Treasurer shall provide the Village Board and the Town
Board with quarterly statements of the volunteer funds as of the end
of March, June, September, and December of each calendar year. The
statements shall be provided within 30 calendar days of the end of
the calendar quarter. The statements shall include a detailed itemization
of all receipts, expenditures, and the balance on hand at the end
of the quarter. The source of all funds and the identity of the payee
for each disbursement shall be set forth.
A.
The Village Treasurer shall deposit all Joint Department funds that
are not volunteer funds (hereinafter "municipal funds") into a Joint
Department fund, segregated from all other Village funds, for the
use of the Joint Department only.
B.
All municipal funds shall be disbursed pursuant to the annual budget
appropriations and other approvals given by the Village Board and
the Town Board for expenditures on an annual basis. The approved budget
will permit the appropriate Joint Department personnel to draw vouchers
of expenditure of funds in accordance with the budget.
C.
The Village Board and the Town Board may each establish and maintain
a separate account, or together establish and maintain one or more
joint accounts, for fire and EMS equipment purchase and replacement,
and the funds deposited in any such accounts shall not be used for
general operating purposes for the Joint Department or for the Town
or the Village.
The Village and the Town will maintain insurance coverage as
necessary and determined by the Village Board and the Town Board for
the Joint Department as an annual budgeted expense, naming the Village
and the Town as additional insureds.
The Joint Department shall conduct its personnel and other practices
in a manner that does not discriminate against any person on the basis
of age, race, creed, color, disability, sex, marital status, national
origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest or conviction record,
subject to Sections 111.321, 111.322, and 111.335, Wis. Stats., or
membership in the National Guard, state defense force, or any other
reserve component of the military forces of the United States, in
violation of Wisconsin's Fair Employment Law or of Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, or as otherwise prohibited
by law.
A.
The Joint Department shall charge to each owner of all real property
involved in a fire, on a joint and several basis, the actual cost
to the Joint Department for services rendered for the fire call, plus
the actual charge for water usage, or such other charges as may be
established by the Fire Chief with the approval of the Village Board
and the Town Board; provided, however, that the minimum charge under
this section shall be $100.
B.
In the event that a call is not made to real estate but is instead made to personal property such as a vehicle, the charges imposed under Subsection A, above, shall be imposed on all owners of such personal property, on a joint and several basis. This section shall apply regardless of whether a fire is involved or not, and shall specifically include car accidents where the Joint Department is called out, regardless of the presence of fire.
C.
The Joint Department shall charge to each individual who receives
emergency medical services in accordance with a schedule of charges
established by the Fire Chief with the approval of the Village Board
and the Town Board.
D.
The Village Treasurer shall prepare and send, or cause to be prepared
and sent, an invoice detailing such fees, within 10 working days of
the date of the fire or EMS call. All such fees shall be paid in full
by the responsible party or parties no later than 60 days after the
date of the fire or EMS call. Failure to so pay such fees will result
in interest being charged at the rate of 1.5% per month from the due
date.
E.
Collection of fees imposed pursuant to Subsections A, B and C, above, may be delegated to a third-party agency by contract. In the absence of such a contract, those fees shall be collected using the following procedure:
1.
The Village Treasurer shall send statements detailing the balance
due for such fees every 30 days while said fees remain unpaid, unless
instructed otherwise by the Fire Chief.
2.
After three such statements are sent, the Village Treasurer shall
report the delinquency to the Fire Chief.
3.
After receiving a delinquency report from the Village Treasurer under Subsection 2.16.120E(2), above, the Fire Chief shall:
b.
If the outstanding balance is over $500, refer the matter to
the Village Board and the Town Board. The Village Board and the Town
Board shall have the authority to do any of the following, by the
majority vote of both boards, for any outstanding balance referred
under this subsection or Subsection E(3)(a)(iv), above:
A.
Fire Inspector. The Fire Chief shall, by virtue of his office, be
fire inspector for the Joint Department (hereinafter "Fire Inspector").
The Fire Inspector shall have the power to appoint one or more deputy
fire inspectors from the personnel of the Joint Department (hereinafter
"Deputy Fire Inspectors"), who shall perform the same duties and have
the same powers as the Fire Inspector.
B.
Inspection of Premises. The Fire Inspector and his or her duly authorized
Deputy Fire Inspectors may enter and inspect any building within the
Village and the Town, at any reasonable hour in the performance of
their duties under this section.
C.
Duties Generally. The Fire Inspector shall be responsible for having
all public buildings and places of employment within the territory
of the Joint Department inspected for the purpose of ascertaining
and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fire, or
any violations of any law or ordinance relating to fire hazards or
to the prevention of fires, and shall perform such other duties as
are required by law, ordinance, or by the Village Board and the Town
Board.
D.
Inspections.
1.
Determination of the Buildings to be Inspected. The Fire Inspector
shall be responsible for determining those public buildings and places
of employment that are to be inspected within the Village and the
Town.
2.
Inspection Period. It shall be the duty of the Fire Inspector to
inspect all such buildings and places of employment at least once
per calendar year.
3.
Frequency of Inspections. Fire inspections of such buildings and
places of employment may be made as often as may be deemed necessary
by the Fire Inspector under the provisions of applicable state law,
for the purpose of ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions
deemed in violation of any state or local law or code or any other
condition deemed dangerous by the Fire Inspector. In no case shall
the period between inspections of any given premises exceed 15 months.
E.
Removal of Fire Hazards. Should the Fire Inspector or the Deputy
Fire Inspectors discover that there is any condition deemed in violation
of any state or local law or code, or that any danger from fire exists
by reason of any other cause, they shall give notice in writing to
the owner(s) or occupant(s) detailing any such defects, requiring
them to make reasonable changes and repairs within the specified period
of time to render the premises or buildings as safe as possible from
fire.
F.
Reports. The Fire Inspector shall make and keep on file reports of
fire prevention inspections. For at least seven years, the reports
shall be maintained in written form or in another form capable of
conversion into written form within a reasonable amount of time.
G.
Fees and Payment. The owner of any building or premises inspected pursuant to Subsection D, above, shall pay a fee of $75 per inspection. This fee may be amended from time to time, as approved by the Village Board and the Town Board. Fees for all other services rendered in performing fire inspection duties shall be charged and paid in the same manner and at the same rate as Joint Department personnel are paid for attendance of fire calls. The Village Treasurer shall prepare and send an invoice detailing all fees due under this subsection within 10 working days of the inspection or provision of services, as appropriate to the situation. Said fees shall be paid in full to the Village Clerk no later than 60 days after the date of the inspection or provision of services. Failure to timely pay any amount due under this subsection will result in interest being charged at the rate of 1.5% per month from the due date, and any delinquent amounts may be collected in the same manner as provided in Section 2.16.120E, above.
The Joint Department shall be responsible for paying for all
initial classes and all other required courses and training of all
department personnel. If an individual does not pass a class he or
she is enrolled in, such person may have the opportunity to retake
the class by paying 50% of the cost thereof. The Joint Department
shall pay 50% of the cost of the retaken class. If the individual
successfully passes the second class, the Joint Department shall reimburse
such person for the portion of costs paid by such person. If the individual
does not pass the class the second time it is taken, such person shall
not be reimbursed and must return all course materials to the Joint
Department.
This Chapter 2.16 constitutes an intergovernmental agreement, made pursuant to Section 66.0301(2), Wis. Stats., enforceable by both the Village and the Town, which supersedes all prior agreements between the Village and the Town to the extent they conflict with the provisions hereof, and which shall be in effect unless and until either the Village or the Town rescinds this Chapter 2.16 upon 120 days prior written notice to the other.
