Johnsonville fire fighters speak out on consolidation

Members of the Johnsonville Fire Department turned out in full force to discuss fire department consolidation, during a Sheboygan Falls Town Board Monday, Jan. 4.

With a capacity crowd of 41 town residents in the audience, attorney Jim Therig and several members of the Johnsonville Fire Department spoke about the department’s involvement in consolidation talks with the city and town of Sheboygan Falls fire departments.

For the past two years, leaders and officials from all three departments have held meetings to discuss the possibility of consolidating manpower and equipment.

The Johnsonville Fire Department has established goals and objectives, which involve maintaining its own identity.

“In talking with the guys in the department, they definitely don’t want to disappear or be squashed,” Therig said. “They are a proud group of guys, who have formed a strong bond through training and serving on the department together for many years.

“At this point, the consensus among the members is that there is not enough data out there right now to give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to the idea of a merger,” he said. “They are open to engaging in discussions and fielding suggestions on how to work with the town and city from this point forward.”

Johnsonville Fire Chief Dennis Roehrborn said the department does not want to be pressured into making a decision, without considering all the possibilities.

“In two years, we have not seen a business plan, or cost projection,” Roehrborn said. “A structured business and financial plan needs to be put on the table, before we had move any further on this.

“I would like to see how this would save money,” he said. “I would like to a projection on the pluses and minuses. That would be a good starting point for future discussions.”

Town Chairman Steve Bauer said the town does not wish to eliminate the Johnsonville department.

“We have been seeking an answer from the members of the Johnsonville department on whether they are interested in merging or not,” Bauer said. “When we have that answer, we will be able to choose what route to take in the future.

“We have never talked about eliminating the Johnsonville Fire Department,” he said. “In fact, I believe we need a fire department on the north side of (State) 23.”

Therig believes all parties involved should continue to meet on a regular basis.

“No matter, what the town, the city and the Johnsonville department need to come together to discuss how to make this work,” Therig said. “These meetings should be held in private and not in the media or court of public opinion.

“These will be difficult meetings,” he said. “They won’t be fun, but they are necessary.”

Bauer closed the discussion by asking members of the Johnsonville Fire Department in the audience if they are willing to discuss consolidation.

His question was met with an affirmative response.

Mark O’Halloran, co-founder of Morgan Aircraft, made an appearance to discuss the progress of a planned office complex and aircraft production facility at the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport.

Morgan Aircraft signed a 50-year lease for the planned facility last summer.

The Oostburg-based company is currently finalizing agreements with several financial backers that will allow it to break ground on the ambitious, large-scale project sometime in the spring.

The first phase of the project includes the construction of a $20-30 million office building and aircraft hangar, to be used for production and fabrication for prototypes and test planes.

“The office complex will be a three-story, modern-glass, energy-efficient building,” O’Halloran said. “I believe it will be one of the most beautiful and efficient office buildings in the county.”

The second phase of the project will include the addition of a full-scale manufacturing and production facility at the airport.

“The first phase will have a relative small impact to the area,” O’Halloran said. “When the second phase gets up and running, and manufacturing begins around 2014-15, you will begin to see the impact.”

He provided a brief overview of the vertical-lift extremely maneuverable jet (EM-J) aircraft that Morgan Aircraft plans to manufacture at the airport production facility.

“This is a twin jet with lift rotors in the wings that allow for point-to-point vertical takeoff and landing,” O’Halloran said. “This will be marketed to companies that need private aircraft for frequent business travel.

“It is a major upgrade over the Lear jet and Bell helicopter, which are currently used a lot in the corporate travel world,” he said.

O’Halloran said 18,000 U.S. companies currently own private aircraft for business purposes.

“We will be targeting a big market of companies that have major business travel needs,” he said. “Our aircraft will allow business travelers to take off from their corporate headquarters and land directly at the site of their destination.

“This basically takes away the need for airports, cutting down significantly on travel time. However, the aircraft will be equipped to land on runways as well.”

To date, Morgan Aircraft has built and tested nine unmanned small-scale prototypes.

Similar testing will continue for the next several years.

“We will be spending the next three or four years fine tuning the aircraft in preparation for manned demonstration flights, which we hope to do in three years or so,” he said. “We want to take our time to make sure everything is in place, before we risk doing a manned flight.”

Morgan Aircraft plans to add to its eight-person staff soon after breaking ground on its office and testing facility.

“Our first hires will be administrative and design staff,” O'Halloran said. “Eventually, we will be expanding to include production staff in our manufacturing department.

“We will be hiring people of all experience levels,” he said. “We have already formed partnerships with local colleges to provide training for the type of jobs we will have at our facility.”

Morgan Aircraft selected Sheboygan County Memorial Airport as its headquarters, based upon a variety of factors.

“We looked at college-entrance test scores from the ACT and other tests, and found that this area excels in that capacity,” he said. “We also found the basic fundamental work ethic to be very high in this area.

“The facilities at the Sheboygan County Airport are top-notch, with just the right amount of runway access and space we were looking for. In addition, the company president and CEO, Brian Morgan, is from Oostburg, and his wish was to stay in the area.”

In closing, O’Halloran noted the major tax and employment impact Morgan hopes to make in the area.

“We are looking at hiring 1,000 employees and paying around $560 million in taxes to the state in our first decade of business,” he said. “This is going to be a great employment opportunity for the area. We hope to make a very large economic impact over the long haul.”

Jeff Grady of Elkhart Lake Multi Sports Inc. spoke about tentative plans for the Great Midwest Marathon Festival, which is slated to take place, during the Memorial Day weekend.

The event will feature 11 endurance events, including full and half marathon distance running and road bike races for professional and amateur competitors.

Plans call for road bike races to be held on town of Sheboygan Falls roads, surrounding the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, on Sunday and Monday.

Grady presented a map of the course, which utilizes County O, Highland Road, County J and Meadowlark Road to form a 6.4-mile loop.

“We will need to close those roads, when the competitors come through in a rolling-wave format,” he said. “When all of the racers come through, the road will re-open, until the next wave of riders approaches.”

The roads around the airport were selected, due to their relatively flat terrain and well-contained location.

“The roads offer for a great course,” Grady said. “I have organized the Elkhart Lake triathlon in the past, so I have a lot of experience working with the Sheboygan County Highway Department.

“I’ve worked well with them before, so I expect that this event would be no different. Several board members were hesitant to support the event.

“Some of the roads that would be used are very narrow and busy,” Supervisor Gerald Meyer said.

“I’m not in favor of this,” Bauer said. “When I first heard about this, I was under the impression that it would be held on the airport grounds only.

“I can’t see the county allowing those roads to be closed down for this event,” he said.

Sheboygan County Board Supervisor Peggy Feider also doubted the county’s interest in supporting the event.

“I can’t see how the county would commit law enforcement to a three-day event such as this,” she said.

The board will discuss the item further at its February meeting.

Feider spoke about the county’s plan to consolidate several of the Sheboygan County Highway’s six storage sheds at a savings of $125,000.

In reference to discussions at previous Town Board meetings, Supervisor Cliff Otte said, according to state statue, the town is entitled to reimbursement for fire calls made on county highways.

The next Sheboygan Falls Town Board is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sheboygan Falls Town Hall.