Details of the proposed Muskegon Fire Department takeover by the City of Muskegon Heights were unveiled Monday evening. Muskegon Heights City Manager Jake Eckholm and Muskegon Heights Fire Chief Christopher Dean presented the details Monday to the City Commission. Proposal details include a 10-year service contract with Muskegon, at a cost of $3.6 million per year for the first three years that would provide emergency reponse to the city.
Meanwhile, local firefighters are rejecting the proposal, citing a number of logistical and safety issues the takeover would create.
One of them is Sean Abby, the 2nd District Vice President for the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union.
“You can’t take two, woefully understaffed, woefully underfunded fire departments, put them together, and then magically have a great fire department," Abby said. "Something is missing.”
Roughly 20 full-time Muskegon firefighters would lose their jobs under the proposal. While city Manager Eckholm says the Heights has every intention of hiring a number of those firefighters, those who got the job would lose their seniority status, start over at the bottom, and for many, take up to a 50 percent pay cut.
The Muskegon Heights City Commission will consider the proposal June 11th.
