[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Board of the Township of Denton 11-2-2005.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to authorize the Township to recover
costs incurred by the Township in responding to certain public safety and/or
fire emergency incidents, and to provide for the procedure by which such recovery
shall occur.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
supplied, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Those costs for services incurred by the Township in connection with
a response to a public safety or fire emergency incident based on, but not
limited to, the actual labor and material costs of the Township (including,
without limitation, employee wages, fringe benefits, administrative overhead,
costs of equipment, costs of equipment operation, costs of materials, costs
of transportation, costs of material disposal and costs of contracted labor)
whether or not the services are provided by the Township or by a third party
on behalf of the Township; service charges and interest; attorney fees, litigation
costs and any costs, charges, fines, or penalties imposed on the Township
by any court or state or federal governmental entity.
The verbal or written threat of a bomb or other explosive device,
which if discharged as threatened would violate a federal, state or local
law.
The Township Fire Department.
Emergency medical, public safety, police, fire and civil defense
services.
Any request for emergency assistance made to a particular location
or premises if such location or premises has requested emergency assistance
more than six times in the preceding six months.
Any automated or manual device designed to request or summon emergency
assistance which device is activated intentionally or otherwise, in the absence
of an actual need for emergency assistance. The determination that there was
no actual need for emergency assistance shall be made by the highest ranking
Fire Department member, or in lieu of any Fire Department officers, the most
senior person responding to a false alarm. Provided, however, a false alarm
shall not be deemed to have occurred if:
Those elements, substances, wastes or by-products, including, but
not limited to, combustible liquid, flammable gas, explosives, flammables,
poisons, organic peroxides, oxidizers, pyrophorics, unstable reactive matter,
water reactive matter, petroleum products, antifreeze, polychlorinated biphenyls
and asbestos, which are or potentially are harmful to the environment or human
or animal life, or which pose an unreasonable or imminent risk to life, health,
or safety of persons or property, or to the ecological balance of the environment
as determined by the Fire Chief or the senior fire official of the Department
in charge at the scene.
Any occurrence, activity, accident, incident, or emergency where
a release of hazardous materials occurs or is reasonably imminent and where
the Fire Chief or his or her designee has so declared such activity, accident,
or emergency a hazardous material incident or emergency.
A fire set or determined to have been set in violation of a federal,
state or local law and shall include, without limitation, an arson fire and
a fire set in violation of a "no burning" ban or order.[1] An illegal fire does not include an unintentional fire or fire
caused by an act of God, e.g., a lightning storm.
Any self-propelled or towed vehicle designed or used on the public
streets, roads and highways to transport passengers or property which is required
to be registered for use upon such public streets, roads, and highways and,
for the purposes hereof, all trailers or appurtenances attached to any motor
vehicle.
Excessive requests for emergency assistance;
A false alarm;
A hazardous material incident or emergency;
An illegal fire;
Bomb threats where the Fire Department is requested to move its apparatus
or manpower from the Fire Station;
Threats of harm to oneself or others;
A structure demolition;
A utility line failure;
A motor vehicle incident or accident;
A structure fire that requires the use of Fire Department equipment,
manpower, and extinguishing agent(s); or
Any other fire that requires the use of Fire Department equipment, manpower,
and extinguishing agent(s), including without limitation to fires in open
areas, fields, woods and forests.
Any actual or threatened spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting,
emptying, discharging, injecting, leaching, dumping or disposing into the
environment, including, but not limited to, the air, soil, groundwater and
surface water.
Any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, commercial
entity, consortium, joint venture, government entity or any other legal entity
responsible for a public safety or fire emergency incident, or any owner,
tenant, occupant or party in control of real or personal property from which,
onto which, or related to which there is a public safety or fire emergency
incident, and their heirs, estates, successors and assigns.
The tearing down of a structure damaged by fire or hazardous materials
incident, which must, in the opinion of the Fire Chief or his or her designee,
be promptly demolished during or following the fire or hazardous materials
incident to protect public safety.
A fire that involves any building, outbuilding or similar structure.
This would include any fire that involves something burning within the structure,
as well as any fire involving the structure itself, including, without limitation,
interior and exterior walls, roof and roof structures, structural members,
substructural members, ceiling and floor structures, porches, decks and awnings.
The verbal or written threat of physical harm to oneself, one's property,
or another or another's property which if carried out would be a violation
of federal, state or local law.
The Township of Denton and its various departments and units.
The disabling of any transmission or service line, cable conduit,
pipeline, wire or the like used to provide, collect or transport electricity,
natural gas, cable television and stereo signals or electronic impulses, water
or sanitary or storm sewage if the owner or party responsible for the maintenance
of such utility line does not respond within one hour to a request to repair
or correct such failure.
The-Denton Township Fire Department provides public safety and/or fire
emergency services to the Township of Denton and has entered into a fire protection
contract to provide these services to other areas. At present, these other
areas include the 11 townships of Roscommon County, State of Michigan, the
Merritt Fire Department, County of Missaukee, State of Michigan, and South
Branch Township, Crawford County, State of Michigan. It is intended that the
rights and procedures provided herein shall extend and apply to the entire
protection area, and that the same are an inseparable aspect of the services
provided by the Township and its Fire Department both within the Township
limits and elsewhere under and pursuant to such fire protection contracts.
A.Â
Upon receipt of the Fire Department Chief's report pertaining
to a public safety or fire emergency, the Township may recover all assessable
costs in connection with such emergency from any or all responsible parties,
individually, jointly and/or severally.
B.Â
The Township Clerk or his or her designee shall determine
the total assessable costs and shall, in consultation with other Township
personnel involved in responding to public safety or fire emergency incident,
determine whether to assess any, all, or part of such costs against any of
the responsible parties. The Township Clerk may maintain a list of associated
costs to help him or her in assessing costs for a public safety or fire emergency,
which list should be updated annually or at any other reasonable time in the
Clerk's discretion, and which shall be considered a guideline in calculating
costs to the responsible parties.[1] In making determination of costs, the following shall be considered:
(1)Â
The total assessable costs;
(2)Â
The risk of public safety or fire emergency incident
imposed on the Township and/or its response area, its residents and their
property;
(3)Â
Whether there was any injury or damage to a person or
property;
(4)Â
Whether the public safety or fire emergency incident
required evacuation;
(5)Â
The extent to which the public safety or fire emergency
incident required an unusual or extraordinary use of Township personnel and
equipment;
(6)Â
Whether there was any damage to the environment;
(7)Â
The existence and extent of negligence or fault on the
part of the responsible party; and
(8)Â
Whether the public safety or fire emergency incident
involved, or the assessable costs were incurred for the benefit of a resident
of the Township.
[1]
Editor's Note: The current charges for services rendered are available
from the Township offices.
C.Â
After consideration of the factors in Subsection B immediately above, the Township Clerk may allocate assessable costs among and between multiple responsible parties, or may assess all or any portion of such costs as against any responsible party, and regardless of whether a responsible party has other legal liability therefor or is legally at fault.
D.Â
If the Township Clerk determines not to assess all or
a part of assessable costs against a responsible party, such determination
shall not in any way limit or extinguish the liability of the responsible
party to other parties.
After determining to assess and recover assessable costs against a responsible party or parties and the amount of such assessment, the Township Clerk shall submit such determination to the Township Treasurer or his or her designee, who shall mail an invoice to each responsible party against whom recovery is sought at his or her last known mailing address. Such invoice shall be due and payable within 30 days of the date of mailing, and any amounts unpaid after such date shall bear a late payment fee equal to 1% per month or fraction thereof that the amount due and any previously imposed late payment fee remains unpaid. If a responsible party shall appeal assessable costs pursuant to § 150-6 hereof, such costs, if upheld, in whole or in part, shall be due and payable 30 days from the date of determination of the appeal, and any late payment fees shall be calculated retroactively after the 30th day after the original invoice from which such appeal was taken, unless the Township Board during such appeal hearing determines that there existed a meritorious and bona fide dispute and basis for appeal, in which event the Township Board may waive the late payment fee which accrued prior to the date of appeal and up to 30 days thereafter.
Any responsible party who receives an invoice for assessable costs shall
have an opportunity to meet with the Township Clerk or his or her designee
to request a modification of assessable costs. The responsible party shall
request such meeting in writing within seven calendar days of the date of
the invoice assessing the assessable costs. At such meeting, the Township
Clerk may affirm or modify the assessment of costs. If, after meeting with
the Township Clerk or his or her designee, the responsible party is not satisfied,
he or she may request an opportunity to appear before the Denton Township
Board to further request a modification of assessable costs. A responsible
party who desires to appear before the Township Board must first meet with
the Township Clerk as provided above and shall file a written request to appear
before the Township Board within seven calendar days of the date of the meeting
with the Township Clerk. Upon receipt of such request, the Township Clerk
will place the responsible party on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled
Township Board meeting, which meeting is at least 14 calendar days after the
date on which the responsible party files the request to appear. Any filed
request to appear shall specifically identify and explain all reasons why
the responsible party believes the assessed costs should be modified. Any
reason, basis or argument for modification of assessable costs not set forth
in the request to appear shall be deemed waived by the responsible party.
Failure to timely file either the request for meeting with the Township Clerk
or the request to appear before the Township Board shall constitute a waiver
of the responsible party's objection to the assessment as invoiced and/or
as modified by the Township Clerk pursuant hereto. After a responsible party
has been given an opportunity to appear before it, the Township Board shall
determine within 30 days whether to confirm, modify or void the assessment
and invoice of assessable costs as to that appearing responsible party.
Monies collected under this chapter shall be applied first to reimburse
the Township for costs incurred in the recovery of such costs, with the remaining
balance to be placed directly into a fund of the Township Fire Department
for the purchase and/or replacement of Fire Department equipment, supplies,
operation, or other Fire Department matters as deemed appropriate by the Chief
of said Department.
Assessable costs assessed against a responsible party not paid when due, including late payment fees, shall constitute a lien upon any real property owned or in which an interest is held by a responsible party within the Township or response area, and from, upon or pertaining to which property the public safety or fire emergency incident occurred. Such lien shall be of the same character and effect as the lien created for real property taxes and shall include accrued interest and penalties. The Township Treasurer shall prior to March 1 of each year certify to the Assessor of the Township in which the subject property is situated the fact that such assessable costs are delinquent and unpaid. The Township Assessor shall then enter the delinquent amount on the next general ad valorem tax roll as a charge against the affected property, and the lien thereon shall be enforced in the same manner as provided and allowed by law for delinquent and unpaid real property taxes. Monies for assessable costs collected in this manner shall be delivered to the Township Fire Department pursuant to § 150-7 above.
In addition to those rights and remedies set forth in this chapter,
the Township shall be entitled to pursue any other remedy or may institute
any appropriate action or proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction
as permitted by law to collect assessable costs from a responsible party.
The recovery of assessable costs pursuant hereto does not limit the
liability of a responsible party under other applicable local, state or federal
law.
Nothing in this chapter shall authorize the Fire Chief or any Township
personnel to refuse or delay fire service to any person, firm, or corporation
that has not paid for service or that owes for previous services.
