In the town of Chautauqua there are four different fire departments. Those departments are considering joining forces and becoming a single department for the entire town.

Covering the town are the following departments: Chautauqua Volunteer Fire Department, Dewittville Fire Department, Hartfield Volunteer Fire Company and the Mayville Fire Department. All the departments are fully volunteer. Chautauqua Volunteer covers the Institution plus parts of the town. Dewittville and Hartfield cover their respective hamlets. Mayville covers the village. There is also a small portion of the town of Chautauqua that is covered by the Sherman Fire Department.

Many years ago, Dewittville, Hartfield and Mayville discussed merging, but nothing came of it. The topic again came up in 2017 when there was a push statewide to merge local governments and services. The state had offered a $20 million grand prize to the county which had the best plan. One piece of that plan was looking at Hartfield, Mayville, Dewittville, and Maple Springs fire departments either merging or exploring closer coordination.

But like most of those ideas, the proposal fell away when Chautauqua County didn’t win the funds.

Spring forward to 2023 and the Mayville Fire Department says it needs a new $1.2 million commercial pumper fire engine. Village officials balked at the price, expressing concern that it could hamstring the department. They also said maybe it’s time to work with other departments more.

Mayville fire officials came back six months later with a new plan – buy an $800,000 engine. They also said they would be open to merging with neighboring departments.

That discussion, which was held in the back of the Mayville Village Hall during a budget presentation with only a handful of people present, appeared to springboard the idea. It wasn’t new – it’s something heard every now and then in discussions with elected leaders and fire officials – but it seemed different this time. There was talk about getting the key players together and talking it out.

And it actually happened.

The meeting was never announced publicly, but a number of members of the different departments were there. Both the village and town boards had representatives, but not enough to violate the state’s Open Meetings law, which would have required the meeting be announced and open to the public.

VILLAGE, TOWN EXPRESS SUPPORT

On Tuesday of this past week, a resolution appeared on the Mayville Village Board agenda. It simply stated, “Resolved that the village of Mayville Board of Trustees are in favor of future meetings with the Town of Chautauqua as well as Hartfield, Dewittville and Chautauqua Fire Districts to discuss the possible formation of a Joint Fire District encompassing the entire Town of Chautauqua, including the Village of Mayville.”

It was the 16th of 20 resolutions that night on the agenda, packed between a request for the state to provide more aid to municipalities and final approval of the lease agreement by the Sheriff’s Office to rent the village’s empty building code office.

During the workshop held before the start of the official meeting, Mayor Rick Syper invited the public if they had any questions regarding that night’s meeting.

The Post-Journal/OBSERVER asked him about the fire department resolution and if there was any further decision to vote again on purchasing the $800,000 fire engine.

Even though the Mayville Fire Department recommended an engine that was to cost $400,000 less than the original, the vote failed in February because Trustee Mark Perry voted against it. Trustee Bill Ward was not in attendance.

Syper told those in attendance that there was, in fact, a meeting with representatives from the four departments. “That resolution is giving the village’s blessing to have the fire departments continue to have those discussions,” he said.

He also said they’re waiting on buying a new truck to see where these discussions lead.

At that private meeting, there was an attorney from the Syracuse area who discussed the process as well.

Syper emphasized that this is “just the beginning stages” and added that it’s possible only two or three departments may decide to merge instead of all four.

Twenty-four hours later, a similar resolution appeared on the Chautauqua Town Board’s agenda. Little was discussed in open session, as the town quickly went into a public hearing on Water District No. 5.

After the meeting, The Post-Journal/OBSERVER asked Town Supervisor Don Emhardt about it. “As the Hartfield Fire Chief, I’m in favor of it,” he said.

Emhardt noted they have about 20 people in the department, but when there’s a call, sometimes only a handful of members will respond. “It’s hard to get people to show up,” he said.

He offered no predictions, but said he was encouraged by how the meeting with the attorney went.

FIRE OFFICIALS HOPEFUL

Another person who was in attendance at that private meeting was Mayville Fire Chief Rusty Hardenburg.

Hardenburg, who is still frustrated that the village has now twice rejected the department’s attempt at replacing their aging fire truck, said it’s the manpower struggle that is driving the conversation. “We don’t have as many members as we did before,” he said.

Hardenburg noted they have around 40 names who are officially members, but only about half of the volunteers regularly respond to emergencies. “It’s harder for the people who are there to come to the calls. Everybody has jobs, family and that kind of stuff, which takes away from volunteering,” he said.

Whether a merger happens or not, Hardenburg still believes a new fire engine is needed. He doesn’t see that need going away. At the same time, he could see where the departments share enough equipment that they may be able to cut down on some future purchases.

Trying to decide how much equipment a department needs can be complicated.

According to Emergency Services Director Noel Guttman, Mayville, Chautauqua town, Dewittville and Hartfield fire departments have 19 vehicles. By comparison, the city of Jamestown has 16 vehicles total.

At the same time, Jamestown is a city that covers 9 square miles. Chautauqua town, meanwhile, is about 67.5 square miles.

Guttman, who is also a member of the Mayville Fire Department, supports merging. “One of our biggest problems right now – and when I see ‘we,’ it’s not a local problem, it’s a local, statewide and national problem in volunteer fire departments – is getting people,” he said.

The training requirements have become more stringent, which may keep some people away from volunteering. At the same time, generational volunteers have fallen away.

Facing a lack of volunteers, Guttman notes that merging will allow departments to pool their resources. “We can look to make sure we’re good stewards of our taxpayers’ money. Whether it’s a village department, a fire district – whatever that municipal complex is – we can look at it and maybe not have to have as much duplication of services,” he said.

Along with combining manpower and resources, Guttman believes there may be grant opportunities out there as well.

In Chautauqua County there are 42 fire departments. Dunkirk and Jamestown are fully professional. Fredonia has a mix of paid and volunteer. The remaining 39 departments are all volunteer-based.

While there has been talk here and there throughout the county of various departments merging together, Guttman is unaware of any outside of the four in the town of Chautauqua that seem to be pursuing it on this level.

But if it does happen that some or all of the departments merge in the town of Chautauqua, Guttman thinks it could be a catalyst for other departments around the county.

“I think a lot of departments are going to watch how this process goes,” he said.

In terms of timeline, Guttman said the attorney at the meeting told those present that it could happen as early as 90-120 days. Realistically, Guttman doesn’t think it would happen that quickly, but thinks it could happen sooner rather than later.

“I’m very hopeful that by the end of the year or by the third quarter of the year we have a really good idea of a rational timeline,” he said.