The Village of Dexter and Scio and Dexter townships have approved a resolution that represents the next step in combining the Scio Township Fire Department and the Dexter Area Fire Department.

The Webster Township Board is expected to consider the resolution March 15, its next regular meeting.

Currently, both departments are operated with full-time and paid-on-call firefighters.

The Dexter and Dexter Township boards unanimously approved the resolution, as did six of the seven Scio Township Board members who were in attendance at its recent board meeting.

Representatives from the four municipalities have been meeting since September 2009 and last month seemed to have reached a consensus opinion that having a consolidated fire department would improve service and reduce overall costs for fire protection.

A Dexter Area Fire Department firefighter checks a truck. The department could be combined with the Scio Township Fire Department.

The Ann Arbor News file

The resolution “supports the regionalization effort and encourages the regional fire committee to move forward with the process with the understanding that an agreement to formally join the current fire department will require further action by the governing body of each community,” Dexter Village President Shawn Keough said in late January.

Scio Township firefighters are responsible for the 34-square-mile township west of Ann Arbor, operating from a fire station on Zeeb Road. The Dexter Area Fire Department protects all of the Village of Dexter, all of Webster Township, 60 percent of Dexter Township, and 40 percent of Lima Township. Its main station is on Main Street in Dexter, and a new substation opened on North Territorial Road in Dexter Township in December.

Fire Chief Rick Royston of the Delhi Charter Township Fire Department, who addressed the group at the Jan. 31 joint meeting, said among the benefits of a regional department are more efficient use of equipment and staffing.

“It’s combining the strengths of two smaller departments to exceed anything you can do now as individual departments,” he said.

Currently, there are two fire chiefs, Carl Ferch in Scio and Loren Yates at the DAFD. Royston recommended one chief for a combined department that would translate into potential cost savings for centralized purchasing and testing of equipment.

He said a regional fire service would consolidate training expenses and standardized training methods, as well as increase competitiveness in grant opportunities because of a larger service area and more staff.

It’s estimated that the combined department would have about a $2 million fire budget.

In the proposed scenario, Dexter Township would pay about $300,000 or 15 percent, and Scio Township would pay about $1.2 million, or about 55 percent. Webster Township’s proposed amount would be about $342,000 or 17 percent, and Dexter Village’s share would be about $247,000 or 13 percent.

The proposed cost amounts were based on each municipality’s population, its state equalized value (with a 50 percent adjustment for open space), and the number of fire calls in the towns.

If the resolution is approved by all the municipalities, the committee would draft a transition plan for review and adoption.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.