Village of Nashotah - The elected chief executives of three communities said Tuesday night that they were confident they could agree on a formula for funding a consolidated Lake Country Fire Department.

"I think we can find a formula that we can agree on," said Chenequa Village President Bryce Styza.

"I agree," added Nashotah Village President Richard Lartz.

Delafield Mayor Ed McAleer concurred with his two colleagues that a nine member committee studying consolidation may be able to agree on how to share the cost of the consolidated department, an issue that some local officials believed was the committee's biggest obstacle.

The City of Delafield, the Village of Chenequa and the Village of Nashotah are each represented by three members on the committee including the elected chief executives.

The committee was appointed by the three communities to determine if it is feasible to merge the City of Delafield Fire Department with the Lake Country Department which serves Chenequa and Nashotah.

Various cost calculations reviewed by the committee during a more than hour two meeting Tuesday night indicated that a consolidated department could save or increase each communities' fire department budget by similar amounts, depending upon which formula was used to calculate the cost.

"We could have sat here tonight and saw formulas that were way out of balance for one community or another and we would have had to throw up our hands and said this isn't going to work. But, that is not what happened," added Lartz.

The committee scheduled another meeting for next month to continue reviewing funding alternatives as well address other issues that need to be resolved if the department is going to be consolidated.

Representatives of the City of Delafield and the villages of Nashotah and Chenequa have reached a tenative agreement on a how a Lake Country Fire Department would be structured to serve the three communities.

According to the agreement, the consolidated department would have three fire stations; the existing ones in Chenequa, Nashotah and the City of Delafield.

There would be one fire chief and the operations of each station would be standardized, according to a list of goals and agreements adopted last week by the nine member committee made up of representatives from each community.

The committee agreed that volunteers would remain a "vital staff component" and existing employees of the Delafield and Lake Country departments would be hired into the consolidated department.

Paramedic service in the merged department was one of 11 items the committee unanimously agreed to at the Tuesday, May 13 meeting.

Members of the committee have acknowledged that reaching an agreement on how the three communities would share funding the department is crucial in determining whether a merger of the Delafield department into the Lake Country Department, which serves Chenequa and Nashotah, is feasble.

Any of the committee's recommendations will have to be approved by the governing bodies of the individual communities.

Village of Hartland - Village officials say they would like to sit in on the discussions between the City of Delafield and the villages of Nashotah and Chenequa regarding possibily consolidating the City of Delafield fire department into the Lake Country Fire Department which serves Chenequa and Nashotah.

Hartland Village President David Lamerand said he had intended to attend a private meeting last week where elected chief executives of the City of Delafield and villages of Nashotah and Chenequa agreed to form a nine member committee to study the feasibility of expanding the Lake Country Fire Department to include the City of Delafield.

Lamerand said he missed the Wednesday meeting because of confusion over his scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. 

"We want to see what is on the table. We want to see what ideas they have and whether we can be of any help," Lamerand said.

Lamerand and Village Administrator Wally Thiel emphasized that no decision has been made whether the village would be interested in joining the consolidation department.

Thiel indicated there are a large number of variables and issues involved in the discussions that might determine whether the village would be interested in joining with the other communities.

The Village of Hartland provides ambulance service to the Village of Chenequa and the Town of Merton and has emergency response mutual aid agreements with communities along its borders including the City of Delafield and the Town of Delafield.

Delafield Mayor Ed McAleer and Nashotah Village President Rich Lartz said last week that if the merger negotiations were successful  the communities of Delafield, Chenequa and Nashotah would need at least a couple of years of experience operating a consolidated department before seeking new partners in the regional venture.

Negotiations to merge the City of Delafield Fire Department into the Lake Country Fire Department, which now serves the villages of Nashotah and Chenequa, are expected to begin this summer.

Village presidents Richard Lartz of Nashotah and Bryce Styza of Chenequa said they will propose the formation of an exploratory committee to their respective villages trustees during meetings scheduled for next week.

Delafield Mayor-elect Ed McAleer said he will discuss the formation of the committee to study the feasibility of the consolidation with the Delafield Common Council at its April 21 meeting.

McAleer said he expects that Lartz and Styza will make a joint appearance at the Delafield Common Council on May 5 to discuss the organizational structure of the Lake Country Fire Department which was created six years ago by merging the Chenequa and Nashotah village fire departments.

The three elected chief executives agreed to form the exploratory committee after an hour of private discussions earlier this week at the Nashotah Village Hall.

The community leaders said that in order for the consolidation to become a reality they must find a formula that enables the three communities to equitably share the cost of operating the department.