It’s October 1.
The Oxford Fire Department is still operating and responding to calls.
And the Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission (OPFEC) is still overseeing the department – for now.
None of the above, except the date, would have been true if the Oxford Township Board last week hadn’t voted 4-3 to extend it’s self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline for withdrawal from the safety authority.
Voting in favor of the extension was Supervisor Bill Dunn, Clerk Clara Sanderson and trustees Pat Fitchena and Shirley Clancy. Voting against the motion were Treasurer Joe Ferrari and trustees Jerry Dywasuk and Charles Kniffen.
The deadline was extended until the township receives a ruling from Oakland Circuit Court Judge Wendy Potts as to how to dissolve OPFEC and divide the fire department’s assets.
Township attorney Gary Rentrop told the board Potts “is likely to give us a fairly prompt response.”
The township filed a “friendly lawsuit” (as Dunn referred to it) July 23 against the village and OPFEC seeking a declaratory action to define the above.
Rentrop said the declaratory action is “purely a question of law.”
The central question is “What is the consequence of the township’s withdrawal from OPFEC?” Rentrop said.
According to Rentrop, the state law under which OPFEC was created, Public Act 57, says “nothing” about dissolution procedures for a safety authority. The law simply states that a party can withdraw from the authority, but is still liable for past debts, he said.
The purpose of seeking a declaratory judgement is to determine if the township’s withdrawal from OPFEC will bring about its dissolution or termination and the distribution of fire assets, Rentrop explained.
Extending the withdrawal deadline didn’t sit well with Dywasuk, longtime opponent of OPFEC and proponent of township ownership of the fire department.
“I don’t understand why we have to wait,” he said, noting that in the past, the township was “constantly” told it could pullout of OPFEC “anytime in 90 days.”
The township board voted May 14 to inform the village of its intent to withdraw from OPFEC and voted May 28 to make Sept. 30 the official deadline for the pullout, giving the process a 120-day time-frame.
“I think if the township had been on top of it, we could have been out by Sept. 30,” Dywasuk said.
“You see what’s going on with OPFEC,” the trustee said. “We’ve completely lost control of it.”
In the past, Dywasuk has repeatedly criticized OPFEC for what he claims is its inefficiency and ineffectiveness as a governing body.
However, the trustee took a new tact last week by calling it “a detriment to public safety in this community” based on the fact OPFEC couldn’t agree earlier this year to hire a fourth full-time firefighter to replace the one who resigned, thus reducing the total number of full-time firefighters
Dywasuk called it a “scary position” when officials and the fire chief “don’t have the right to hire a firefighter.”
Dywasuk and Kniffen argued for placing a deadline on the withdrawal postponement.
“You don’t put a deadline on it, it never gets done,” Kniffen said. “And that’s why I’m going to vote no.”
Dywasuk wanted to amend the deadline extension motion to “not go beyond Dec. 31.”
“I can understand extending it,” but if it goes beyond Dec. 31, the township “could be in a really bad position,” he said.
Rentrop noted he believes the township will receive a ruling on its declaratory action “before the end of the year.”
Dunn disagreed with putting a deadline date on the extension saying he doesn’t “want to put a timetable on being prudent.”
The township is “not going to walk out without direction,” he said.
Rentrop advised township officials of the drawbacks of pulling out of OPFEC before the judge issues her ruling.
He said the township’s withdrawal could leave OPFEC still in operation and give the village control over the fire department’s assets.
Seeking a declaratory judgement as to the consequence of the township’s withdrawal was the “safe, conservative approach,” Rentrop said.
He advised the township to stay its present course.
“The party that acts quick and irrationally and hostile is going to be the loser in this ball game,” Rentrop said. “What they look at it who’s acting fair, who’s acting reasonable.”
Dywasuk chastised the township board for not having something in place, a backup plan, to run the fire department outside of OPFEC.
“If there’s no plan there, it’s because this board didn’t make one,” he said.
Dywasuk and Kniffen’s comments prompted Fitchena to speak out.
“I’m tired of listening to the campaign speeches,” she said. “Where is your plan for Sept. 30? Do you have one, Mr. Dywasuk? Do you have one, Mr. Kniffen? I haven’t seen it.”
“The whole thing is, we have no avenue to get to the end. And if you don’t do things legally, you’ll end up paying for them in the end,” Fitchena said.