Though an agreement between the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory and Lexipol was quickly approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety back on Dec. 20, it generated about 40 minutes of discussion Tuesday during the WWFT Board meeting.
The initial cost in 2025 of the agreement for full implementation and start-up fees is $31,645.80. The estimated fee in 2026 is $10,855.80.
In introducing the agreement Tuesday, Fire Chief Joel Shilling said, “One of the things when I became chief, with our history, our best practices, our policies - we’re kind of all over the place. So, that was one of the things coming in that I really wanted to help streamline and get it so guys know exactly the direction we’re going, exactly what we’re doing. With that, talking with different fire chiefs throughout the state, a lot of fire departments are starting to switch to Lexipol to assist them with their best practices and policies.”
He noted the Warsaw Police Department currently uses Lexipol and has “nothing but great things to say about it.” Several fire chiefs Shilling talked to also had nothing but great things to say about it, he continued.
The $31,645.80 upfront is for Lexipol to review all of WWFT’s policies and update them with any state and federal policies. As laws change, Lexipol will update WWFT’s policies automatically.
Common Councilman Mike Klondaris had questions on what the agreement would do and provide. He was concerned about the cost, and the fact two of the five board members - Wayne Township Trustee Jeanie Stackhouse and Gordon Nash - were not present to weigh in on the agreement and cost.
During the discussion on the agreement, board member David Allbritten said he thought it was a great idea.
“I like it. I’ve been exposed to these type of processes before, prior to my retirement. And best practices and (how) SOPs work. And the requirements of those in law enforcement ... I think some of the best things about this is that, talking about best practices, there’s a lot of judicial actions happening throughout the country and these guys (Lexipol) are watching court cases. When a court case that comes out that may affect policy, they don’t have to know what happened ... these guys are going to know this court ruling and how it affects best practices and procedures. It’s going to be updated pursuant to this court action,” Allbritten said.
If the fire territory doesn’t follow best practices and policies, the cost of the Lexipol agreement will be a drop in the bucket compared to any court and legal fees that could arise, he indicated. Police and fire departments have a lot of liability and they’re trusting in Lexipol to help them.
“I’m behind the chief for this program,” Allbritten said. As for the two board members not present, Allbritten said he was comfortable with approving the agreement like any other item on Tuesday’s agenda without them.
With only three of the five board members present, any vote taken by the board had to be unanimous to be approved. Allbritten eventually made the motion to approve the agreement, Klondaris seconded it and the motion passed 3-0.
In other business:
• The board approved a new three-year contract with Fire Catt for fire hose testing. The cost of the agreement is $8,190 in year one; $8,580 in year two; and $8,970 in year three. Shilling said they’ve used Fire Catt for at least the last eight years.
The fire territory has 19,500 feet of hose, including spare hoses, that have to be tested.
• The board approved an interlocal agreement with Kosciusko County for terminal services data used for maintenance and upgrade of equipment and software in regards to the fire territory’s use of One Solution Freedom-Fire. The annual cost is $1,500 and was approved by the Board of Public Works on Dec. 20.
• The board approved the 2025 contract with Zoll Medical Corporation for preventative maintenance for the fire territory’s four heart monitors. The cost of the contract is $1,360. Shilling said the monitors are probably one of the most used pieces of equipment on medical runs.
• Shilling requested, and the board approved, for the fire territory to apply for a grant with the Indiana Fire and Public Safety Academy for an amount not to exceed $50,000. The grant, if awarded, will go toward updating and maintaining the department’s training equipment and training center. The Board of Public Works approved the grant application previously. The grant application was due at the end of December.
• Shilling reported the fire territory had 316 responses in November. Of those, 109 incidents (34.5%) were overlapping.
They had 13 fires in November, with most of those being structure fires.
WWFT gave mutual aid to Winona Lake Fire Department four times in November; Claypool, once; North Webster, once; and Syracuse, one time.
Warsaw-Wayne received mutual aid in November from Winona Lake, seven times; Leesburg, four times; Claypool, once; and Pierceton, twice.
“Again, a lot of structure fires. A lot of mutual aid when we need more manpower on the scene. So we do rely on the volunteers and then we go help them as well,” Shilling said.
WWFT had one excessive heat/scorch burn in November; 197 rescue/EMS calls; 12 hazardous conditions with no fire; 13 service calls; 28 good intent calls; 20 false alarms/calls; and 31 special incidents.
By fire station, station 17 (Main Street) responded to 144 calls in November; station 13 (Center Street), 109; station 15 (CR 200S), 32; and CARES, 31.
Firefighters trained for a total of 517 hours on various topics in November. They had 30.16 hours of community service.
• CARES Community Health Coordinator Mikaela Bixler reported in December CARES had a total of 54 different interactions. Of those 13 were with people new to CARES; 34 interactions were in-person; and 20 were significant phone calls.
“Twenty-four of those interactions were specifically related to elder care and helping the aging population find resources,” she said. “And then 19 were just general check-ins with individuals to make sure they have resources they need. Twenty-six of the individuals that we served - which is about 48% looking at the month of December - were 65 and older. So I thought that was interesting. We’re really seeing a lot of needs among the aging population. And then we’re seeing a lot of needs related to individuals needing housing.”
CARES also provided QPR (suicide prevention) training to dispatchers in December.
• The board approved a resolution to transfer $10,035.09 from medical/dental/life to the CARES grant and a resolution to transfer $6,898.06 from FSSA grant to miscellaneous operating fund. The Common Council approved both resolutions Dec. 16.
• The board members present - Mayor Jeff Grose, Allbritten and Klondaris - were given the oath of office by city attorney Scott Reust. Nash and Stackhouse will be given their oaths at a later date.
• A long list of travel requests also was approved. Some already occurred, with others happening in the upcoming months.
• The next fire territory board meeting is at 4 p.m. Feb. 4 in the council chambers of City Hall.