Tag: Washington Township

GOP candidates for Monroe County commissioner field questions on economic development

At a Wednesday afternoon forum hosted by the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation at the Monroe Convention center, three rounds of county commissioner candidates from both major parties fielded questions from a moderator and the audience.

That included the two Republican candidates for the party’s District 3 county commissioner nomination.

Competing for the GOP nomination for the District 3 county commissioner seat are Joe Van Deventer and Paul White, Sr.

All registered voters in the county can cast a ballot in a District 3 race. The geographic districts for county commissioners are used only to define the area of the county where candidates have to live.

Primary Election Day is May 7, but in-person early voting has been underway for a couple of weeks, at the Monroe County election operations center at 3rd and Walnut streets.
Continue reading “GOP candidates for Monroe County commissioner field questions on economic development” →

Washington Township to join fire protection district in 2022

At Wednesday’s regular weekly meeting, their last of the year, Monroe County commissioners approved the addition of Washington Township to the Monroe Fire Protection District, starting in 2022.

Earlier this year, commissioners approved the addition of Benton Township to the MFPD, also starting in 2022.

During 2021, Benton and Washington townships will contract with MFPD for fire protection.

In 2019, Van Buren and Bloomington townships were approved for inclusion in the MFPD, starting in 2021.

That means outside the city of Bloomington, MFPD will provide fire protection everywhere in the county except Bean Blossom and Richland townships, in the northwest corner of the county.

By 2022, all the townships where the MFPD provides fire protection will also be members of the district, except for the sparsely populated Salt Creek and Polk townships in the southeastern part of the county. Being a part of the MFPD, instead of just contracting for fire protection means that property owners there will pay a fire levy to the MFPD, not to their home townships.

The additional service area is reflected in the adopted budget for MFPD for 2021, which is just shy of $12 million. That’s better than three times the 2020 adopted budget, which totaled around $3.7 million. Continue reading “Washington Township to join fire protection district in 2022” →

Benton Township now in Monroe Fire Protection District, Washington Township in queue

Benton fire chief Charley Powers.
Benton Township trustee Michelle Bright and township board member Joe Husk.
Monroe Fire Protection District (MFPD) Dustin Dillard at the Aug. 8, 2020 public meeting on a consolidation with Benton Township’s department.

At its weekly Wednesday morning meeting, Monroe County’s board of commissioners approved the inclusion of Benton Township in the Monroe Fire Protection District (MFPD). Benton Township will become a member on Jan. 1, 2022.

Sooner than that, Benton Township will start getting backup fire protection from the district for its volunteer fire department. A $450,000 contract between the MFPD and Benton Township will bridge the year between the end of Benton’s contract with Northern Monroe Fire Territory—because the two-township NMFT is dissolving—and the start of its membership in the MFPD.

The NMFT is dissolving because one of the two NMFT members, Bloomington Township, is joining the MFPD starting Jan. 1, 2021. The other NMFT member, Washington Township, is in the queue to join MPFD starting in 2022, on the same timeline as Benton Township. Public meetings on the topic for Washington Township start Sept. 30.

Last year, Van Buren Township, like Bloomington Township, was approved for inclusion in the MFPD. Continue reading “Benton Township now in Monroe Fire Protection District, Washington Township in queue” →