Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Some staffing changes are taking place within the Hamburg Township Public Safety Department.

The Board of Trustees met Tuesday afternoon and granted some approvals related to establishing police and fire lieutenant promotional eligibility lists.

On the fire department side, Director of Public Safety / Chief Rick Duffany told the board this is the natural progression from the millage being passed and they’re looking to move forward with the process of filling the fulltime firefighter lieutenant positions.

On August 6th, voters approved a fire services millage of 2.25-mills. That was an increase from the 1.75-mills approved in 2016, and rolled back in 2023 to 1.6544-mills.

Part of the reason for the increase is in order to address part-time staffing issues and to meet the demands of increased call volume and increased multiple calls. The additional full-time personnel would be used to ensure staffing at both fire stations 24/7. A memo states Fire Command staff believes there are a sufficient number of internal candidates to fill the six positions.

For the police lieutenant eligibility list, a memo states from an administrative standpoint, the department has gone through some significant changes over the past year. Much of the change was said to be the result of the department’s pursuit and obtainment of state accreditation.
Duffany requested that the Administrative Sergeant position be elevated to the rank of Lieutenant, noting number of command officers remains the same. In order to accomplish the change in rank, a promotional examination needs to be held pursuant the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Duffany told the board the lieutenant position is not a new position; it just hasn’t been filled for the past ten years and accreditation kind-of awakened the discussion and the timing is finally right.