Gaines Board votes to change name of Cutlerville Fire Department

GAINES CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The Cutlerville Fire Department will be getting a new name, after the 73-year-old operating partnership between Byron and Gaines townships ends later this year.

The Gaines Township Board voted 7-0 this week to change the fire department's name to the Gaines Charter Township Fire Department. Township Manager Rod Weersing said the hope is that the name change will take effect by January 1st, 2025. He said Gaines will retain ownership of the fire station on 68th Street west of Division Avenue.That is a potential date by which the partnership's dissolution might be finalized.

The Byron Township Board voted in July 2023 to sever the 73-year-old contact with Gaines in mutually operating the Cutlerville Fire Department. Under an intergovernmental operating agreement, the partnership must begin to officially dissolve within one year, by July 2024.

"We're going to buy out (Byron Township's) half of the equity and operate from there for the time being," he said. "The goal will be to build a station in Gaines at some point down the road. I'd like that to be three to five years, but who knows what the future holds?"

Weersing said the Cutlerville Fire Station property was appriased at $1.88 million. So, Gaines Township would pay about $940,000 to buy out Byron Township's equity share.

"It's a five-year buyout. So it would start at the end of July of this year, and then we would have five years. We have to make at least 20-percent payments over the five years," he said.

Gaines Township may offer fire service to Byron Township after their partnership becomes official. However, Byron may build its own fire station in Cutlerville in the near future.

Weersing said Gaines Township needed a working name for the newly named fire department, which will include both the Cutlerville and Dutton fire stations under the Gaines Charter Township Fire Department moniker.

"All we did tonight was pick our new name. There are some hoops we have to jump through with the different agencies. So, we need a name to work with as we start setting up just the Gaines portion of that service area," Weersing said.

Township Treasurer Laurie Lemke asked Weersing if the names on all the fire trucks in Cutlerville and Dutton will be changed. He answered that the changes will take place gradually.

"We're not going to rush to change everything, but as needed. As uniforms come up for renewal, we'll start changing things over. And at some point, we'll work in the apparatus," Weersing said.

###