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Rockdale board amends Fire & EMS IGA to require unanimous municipal budget approval; creates EMS contract provision and backs CVFD EMR certification
Summary
The Rockdale Village Board voted Oct. 20 to amend the Fire & EMS intergovernmental agreement to require unanimous municipal approval of the annual budget, approved a new EMS contract provision, and authorized a letter supporting CVFD EMR certification; the board also met in closed session on Fire & EMS negotiations and took no action afterward.
The Rockdale Village Board on Oct. 20 approved changes to its regional Fire & EMS intergovernmental agreement that require every participating municipality to approve the service commission’s annual budget rather than a simple majority.
Trustee Breah Klemp moved to amend Section 4.1.2 of the IGA to require unanimous approval; Trustee Joe Leto seconded the motion, which the board adopted 5-0. The adopted language keeps the document’s timetable: the commission will submit a proposed budget by Oct. 1; if municipalities have not passed the proposed budget by Dec. 31 the prior year’s budget, less capital items, will be used; if approval is still lacking by Jan. 31 the dispute will go to arbitration under the IGA’s Section VIII (Article VI).
The change increases each municipality’s ability to block a proposed budget, shifting decision authority from majority approval to unanimous consent. Board members did not record additional debate in the minutes; the motion passed unanimously by the five members present at the time of the vote.
At the same meeting the board created a new Section 2.1.1.1 to establish contract EMS services language. Trustee Klemp moved the change, Leto seconded, and the motion carried 5-0. The minutes record this as a board action to add contract language for EMS services but do not specify contract terms in the public minutes.
The board also authorized a letter of support for CVFD EMR certification on a motion by Trustee Sam Pelot, seconded by Klemp; that motion carried 5-0.
Later in the agenda the board voted to convene into closed session under Wis. Stat. 19.85(1)(e) to deliberate or negotiate the purchase of public properties or to conduct other specified public business for competitive or bargaining reasons related to Fire and EMS services. The motion to enter closed session carried 4-0 at 7:12 p.m.; Trustee Sarah Halvorson had left the meeting at 6:46 p.m. The board reconvened into open session on a motion by Klemp, seconded by Pelot, at 7:56 p.m.; the minutes say no action was taken on closed-session items.
What happens next: the amended voting rule means future commission budgets will require approval from every member municipality to take effect; if a budget is not approved by the Dec. 31 or Jan. 31 deadlines described above the IGA prescribes fallback and arbitration steps.
