Clarissa Kell | Daily Press Gourley Township Supervisor Steve Wery and Jeff Walechka of Walechka Inc. stand in front of the new Gourley Township fire garage and hall currently under construction Wednesday. The new facility was completely funded through the township’s dedicated saving and the Hannahville Indian Community.

GOURLEY TOWNSHIP — Gourley Township, the smallest and second poorest township in Menominee County, is building itself a new township fire garage and hall. The township took on the project without asking for a millage from taxpayers.

Gourley Township Supervisor Steve Wery, who has been supervisor for the last 27 years, explained the current fire garage and hall is 45 years old, located on a hill that makes it dangerous for traffic when fire trucks pull in or out, and there’s a lack of parking when events are hosted at the hall.

He noted all of those factors contributed to building a new facility, but what drove it was something else.

“What really drove bringing this building here is that over the last 27 years on the fire department side and the township side, which the township board is responsible for all expenditures of money, we were sitting on $521,000,” Wery said.

Instead of asking for a millage to fund the project, the township used $421,000 of its fund balance to pay for the project.

“I was very adamant about not going for a millage and strap more payments on the taxpayers’ back as people are struggling today as it is,” Wery said. “So I wanted to go out for no special millage.”

He explained the township needs around $60,000 a year and the fire department needs around $35,000 a year to operate. That’s why the township kept around $100,000 in its fund balance for a cushion.

Wery said he had told the township board that they were going to use the funds from the township’s balance to build the new fire garage and hall or he was going to motion to cut the current millage.

“Because I feel that municipalities and government are not to harbor taxpayer money,” he said. “It does not take $521,000 to operate a township.”

Through dedicated saving of the township and the generosity of the Hannahville Indian Community, the facility was made possible.

“We have had no other source of money or income other than prudent saving and the generosity of Hannahville Indian Community,” Wery said. “Which I believe will be a strong partner of ours moving forward as we provide them with excellent fire protection — to the elderly complex, to the school, to the casino, and the subdivisions.”

Around four years ago, Wery went to the township board and asked if they were willing to look into building a new fire garage that was centrally located within the township.

Wery said all of the board members were agreed, but he wanted to approach the firefighters to gage their interest before setting it all in motion.

“Of course they were all ecstatic to be able to get a new fire garage,” he said.

The township purchased three acres on County Road 551, near the Wilson Seventh-day Adventist Church, from Jeff Wolechka.

Wery said after public hearings, there were a vast majority of residents in favor of the new fire garage, however, they also wanted a new hall.

During another public hearing, the majority of residents again voted in favor of the fire garage with the addition of the hall.

Wolechka’s business Wolechka Inc. is constructing the new facility. The new fire garage is 60 feet by 60 feet and the hall portion is 60 feet by 50 feet, bigger than the current building.

Wery said the new facility will have a lot more room for events and could even be rented out for wedding receptions.

By October, the fire garage will by fully functional and operational, but the interior of the hall won’t be finished.

Wery said he expects in the next two years, with use of more grants and the sale of the previous hall, that the fire garage and hall will be complete.

“What we’re also going to finish this year is our parking lot, our sidewalks, and our landscaping — all but the paving. The paving is the only thing we won’t be able to do (outside),” Wery said.

Wery noted the plan is to also add a playground and training facility for the firefighters behind the new facility in the future.

“All my life, failure is not an option. When you set out to do something, you see it through and that’s my commitment to this community — and I will see it through,” he said.