After much debate, no action was taken by the Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission last week regarding the village’s July 1 seizure of the old fire hall.
Claiming 100 percent ownership of the 5,750-square-foot building on W. Burdick behind the government offices, the village changed the locks and placed the utilities under its name.
Village President Steve Allen said he was “curious” as to why the topic was even on the agenda.
He said the village’s action “really has no place at OPFEC” because the old fire hall is “not an OPFEC asset.” The village claims the building’s title is still in its name and that OPFEC failed to renew its $1 lease agreement for hall.
Allen noted the issue “should be settled between” the township and village directly, not under OPFEC.
OPFEC attorney Steve Gross noted that because the building is “not used as a fire hall anymore,” it’s “no longer a fire asset.”
Township Treasurer Joe Ferrari stated that the old fire hall issue was placed on the agenda at the request of Supervisor and OPFEC Chairman Bill Dunn, who was absent from the meeting.
A July 3 letter from Dunn to the village council stated that he would “at the next OPFEC meeting, call for a vote either to ratify or disavow your actions.”
Two resolutions regarding the village’s seizure of the old fire hall were proposed by township Trustee Jerry Dywasuk and voted down by OPFEC that night.
The first stated, “Therefore be it resolved that keys to the new locks in the Burdick Street Fire Hall be forthwith provided by the Village of Oxford representative to the OPFEC Chairperson on behalf of OPFEC and to the Oxford Fire Chief, without prejudice to the claims of OPFEC, the Township, or the Village to this building, and upon doing so, the actions of the Village in changing the locks to the Burdick Street Fire Hall be deemed ratified and approved by this Board.”
That proposed resolution failed by an overall margin of 6-5, with the township board voting 5-1 in favor and village council voting 5-0 against.
The second proposed resolution stated, “Therefore be it resolved the Village’s unilateral action of changing the locks to the Burdick Street Fire Hall without notice to, consent of, or authorization from the OPFEC Board; be and is hereby disavowed by the Board.”
It failed by an overall margin of 6-5, with the township board voting 6-0 in favor and village council voting 5-0 against.
Allen stated that he’s asked Dunn on “eight different occasions” if he has any documentation that there’s an ownership interest in the old fire hall other than the village. To date, Allen said nothing’s been brought forward.
Village Councilman Dave Bailey stated his belief that the old fire is village property based on the fact that two events necessary for the transfer of ownership did not take place.
The first is a closing agreement and the second is an election whereby village voters were asked to give permission to sell municipal property.
“Clearly, there was no closing. Clearly, there was no election. Clearly, the village owns all that property,” Bailey said. “Nobody in his right mind would deed something over to another entity or person without having a closing.”
Township residents Helen Barwig and Sue Bellairs reminded officials that township residents have invested tax dollars over the years to “revamp” the old fire hall – specifically the 1995-96 2,250-square-foot addition – therefore the township has an ownership interest in the building.
“That’s our asset too,” Barwig said.
“I’m a disgruntled township taxpayer at the moment,” Bellairs told the board.
Township Trustee Shirley Clancy said the fact that the old fire hall addition was funded “through the OESA operating millage and the fire budget” is “very, very important.”
Barwig also pointed out that “if the title (to the old fire hall) was never changed” when the village contributed its fire assets to the formation of a joint department back in the early1980s, then “the village wasn’t being fair with the township.”
“I don’t belong to the village maybe that’s why I don’t understand it,” Barwig said.
Township Trustee Charles Kniffen noted that the November 2002 decision to turn the old fire hall into a teen center was made by OPFEC.
He said it was the “belief all along that the facility was jointly owned and maintained.”
Allen stated that in addition to the teen center, the North Oakland Transportation Authority and village police department were also authorized by OPFEC to temporarily use the facility if they agreed to pay the utilities.
The council president then asked, “Why was (Oxford Township) Parks and Rec. storing things (in the old hall?) Who gave them permission?”
No officials responded to Allen’s question.
A motion was made to renew the OPFEC’s $1 lease for the old fire hall for the remainder of the year, however, it failed by a margin of 6-5, with the township board voting 5-1 in favor and the village council voting 5-0 against.
Allen said the issue of possibly renewing the lease would have to be brought up at the council level.