After announcing on Sept. 30 that their cities were forming a joint committee to study the feasibility of merging the Crystal City and Festus fire departments, the administrators of the two towns started hearing from residents.
Initial comments indicate people are interested in learning what the committee members find, said Crystal City Administrator Jason Eisenbeis and Festus City Administrator Ben DeClue.
“All I’ve heard from people I’ve talked to is, ‘I’m glad they’re thinking it through,’” DeClue said. “From what I’ve heard, they’re happy we’re looking into ways to save money.”
Eisenbeis said he avoids social media, but those people he has spoken with about the idea of a possible fire department merger between the cities appear to be receptive to studying the matter.
“The few people I’ve talked to about it have said they feel it’s a positive idea,” he said.
The committee consists of Eisenbeis, DeClue, Crystal City Fire Chief Tony Bova and Festus Fire Chief Jeff Broombaugh.
Both city administrators cautioned that the committee has only recently begun meeting.
“We had one meeting,” Eisenbeis said.
Much research lies ahead for the committee members before the cities will hold meetings to inform the public of what they have learned and to hear the opinions of residents, the administrators said.
“We won’t start having the meetings until we’ve got something substantial to tell them,” Eisenbeis said. “That’s probably six months to a year away. Likely, closer to a year away.”
Part of the research will involve speaking to public bodies and services that have gone through mergers, DeClue and Eisenbeis said.
“We are going to reach out to communities and different entities that have merged,” DeClue said.
Eisenbeis added, “That’s the plan, contact other departments that have done this.”
The administrators previously said the main point of a possible fire department merger is to save money through, among other things, avoiding duplications of major purchases, like fire trucks.
However, both administrators said they realize much needs to be learned before such an undertaking occurs. For instance, Crystal City’s department is all volunteer except for one full-time paid firefighter, and the Festus department is a paid fire department, so that is one of many issues that the committee must tackle.
Another matter, whether a public vote will be needed, depends on what sort of firefighting entity the cities create, DeClue said.
“If we were to create a fire district, we’d need a public vote,” he said. “If we create some kind of authority contained between the cities, the councils could approve that.”