Fire Department Millage Back on Ballot in Alpena

Midterms are coming up in a couple of weeks, and on the ballot once again is the millage request from the Alpena Township Fire Department.

The millage was previously on the ballot in August, but it was voted down by a slight margin. The millage would allow the department to make improvements to their stations’ infrastructure, as well as maintain the sufficient number of firefighters on staff to meet the requirements of the national fire protection association, which is nine. Fire Chief Mark Hansen talks about what the department may look like if they don’t receive the millage.

“If the millage doesn’t pass, we’re looking at some sort of reduction in service, we don’t know what that’s going to be, that would certainly be a board decision, but without the passage of the millage, it’s certainly going to make it rough to run the services as the people know it as now,” he said.