Addison Township residents who have been calling the fire department for help getting up will begin paying a $75 fee for this service after eight repeat visits, following a unanimous vote by the Addison Township Board Dec. 18.

The board approved the township’s schedule of cost, which included the fee and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2018.

Fire Chief Jerry Morawski said the fire department makes regular visits to some homes just to help people get up. In one case, a township resident called for this service 40 times within an eight-month period, he noted.

Morawski said some firefighters have been injured during these visits.

“I think there is a value for the taxpayer for us to go out there and help out and we’ve done this several times for several different people throughout the community and that’s not a problem. But when it becomes (that frequent) … somewhere along the way, we have to draw a line,” Morawski said.

He suggested instituting a $75 charge after eight lift-assist calls per year to one household.

Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson agreed having a per-call fee might help reduce the number of such requests.

Some of the calls could be pulling fire staff away from a true emergency elsewhere in the community, he added.

“I’ve gone through this. There are other organizations that are available for this service,” he said. “We don’t want (first-responders) tied up if there really is an emergency.”

During the board discussion, Trustee Jacob Newby pointed out that Addison Township is an aging community and he expressed concern that charging a fee could prevent residents from getting help when it’s needed.

“Many seniors are on a fixed income with Social Security, so I think a $75 cost could be kind of excessive for them to pay,” he said.

Morawski assured the board that he had done an extensive amount of research on the fees charged by other fire departments in Oakland County before arriving at the proposed amount and many other departments begin charging residents for lift-assist services after just three calls.

“We had a few people maybe use (lift-assist service) four or five times in a year . . . That’s acceptable and that’s why I went with (the number) eight because (as) I look back at our past records . . . our community (is) getting older,” he said. “They’ve needed some help, the husband or the wife, to move their spouse around. We’re there to do that for them.”

“We’ve had this happen before where we’ve assisted that person during our off time with the (Firefighters) Association and we have made accommodations for them, so we’re not going out there to throw down the hammer and make them pay. If there’s a resident here that needs some help, we would be more than willing to help them. That’s why I put eight times (into the Schedule of Costs), versus other (fire departments) where I think they may be a little more disconnected from their community.”