Belle Valley FD

09/09/2026

Millcreek Township Must Follow Its Own Ordinance!

Supervisor Kim Clear’s statement is deeply troubling because it misrepresents both the facts and the law governing Millcreek Township’s volunteer fire departments.

The Township’s ordinance is not ambiguous.

It expressly recognizes four separate volunteer fire departments: West Lake, West Ridge, Kearsarge, and Belle Valley. It does not authorize the Township to eliminate those departments, force them into a single consolidated organization, or place their governance under the Township Fire Chief.

In fact, the ordinance says precisely the opposite.

Section 55-27(C) states that: “The governance of the individual volunteer departments by the Township Fire Chief will not usurp or otherwise affect the conduct of the volunteer departments as presently exercised by their duly elected officers…”

And nowhere does the ordinance authorize the Township Fire Chief or the Board of Supervisors to eliminate those individual departments and force them into a single organization under Township control. In fact, the ordinance specifically protects the independent governance of those departments.

Section 55-27(C) states that the governance of the individual volunteer departments by the Township Fire Chief “will not usurp or otherwise affect” the conduct of those departments by their duly elected officers.

The Township cannot rewrite an ordinance through a fire chief's directives.

It cannot erase four legally recognized volunteer departments that are independent nonprofit organizations by administrative fiat.

And it cannot use the transition to a paid department as a pretext to seize control of organizations that the ordinance expressly recognizes and protects.

This Is Bigger Than Belle Valley

The Township’s attempt to portray this as a dispute with one volunteer department is a distraction. What’s at stake here is nearly $1 million in Volunteer Firefighters' Relief funds that supports the volunteer fire departments serving Millcreek residents. Those funds cannot be used by any fire department that is not a volunteer organization - unless a municipality eliminates the volunteer departments.

If the Township’s plan is to consolidate or eliminate the four volunteer departments, then where does that money go?

Who gets it? Who controls it? And under what authority? Is this how the Township plans to pay for the $2.2 million fire truck it purchased last year without developing a funding plan for it?

The public deserves answers.

Belle Valley Fire Department is now urging Millcreek Township supervisors to take a stand in an ongoing controversy with Millcreek Fire Department. Millcreek Township has given Belle Valley until t…

09/06/2026

An Open Letter to Millcreek Township. Millcreek residents deserve answers.

The Township says it wants to preserve our volunteer fire departments. The Fire Chief is publicly talking about a plan to “fully merge into one department.”

Ask the Supervisors to clear this up!

📧 Email the Supervisors today. Tell them you want clear answers about the future of Millcreek’s volunteer fire departments.

Supervisor Jim Bock [email protected]
Supervisor Kim Clear [email protected]
Supervisor Kylie Morris [email protected]

Ask the Supervisors to:

1. Clearly state whether the independent volunteer fire departments will remain independent.

2. State whether the Board supports Chief Cliff’s plan to “fully merge into one department.”

3. If it does not, publicly reject that plan.

4. Make clear whether signing the proposed agreement puts Belle Valley on a path toward merger into one department that would eliminate the volunteer departments.

Read the full letter from Belle Valley that lays out the questions the Board needs to answer.

If the Board truly intends to preserve the volunteer fire departments, then it is time for the Board to say so clearly, direct its administration accordingly.

09/02/2026

A message from Belle Valley Fire Department Chief John Rainey:

Millcreek Township keeps telling us it wants to preserve the volunteer fire departments. So why did Fire Chief Mike Cliff tell the Erie Times-News that the plan is to “work toward a merger and a plan to fully merge into one department”?

Which is it?

As Chief of the Belle Valley Fire Department, our message to the Millcreek Supervisors is to answer that question, take control of the process, and stop pushing an agenda that threatens the volunteer fire departments our community depends on.

The public deserves a straight answer.

This is what the article said:

"'Say they (Belle Valley) sign an agreement, we will work toward a merger and a plan to fully merge into one department,' Cliff said. "We would move the paid staff into their station and use their apparatus to help provide service to the residents.' The merger would not physically combine buildings, but would make all Millcreek fire departments into one company."

https://www.goerie.com/story/news/local/2026/09/01/millcreek-township-belle-valley-fire-department-tensions-grow-over-services-agreement/91564831007/

Here's the deal: Belle Valley has served this community for generations. We intend to keep doing exactly that.

Belle Valley has been given 30 days from Aug. 31 to comply with the records management system and 15 days to meet with Millcreek Fire Department and sign the joint agreement.

09/01/2026

SO MUCH FOR “WORKING TOGETHER.”

Monday: Millcreek Township threatens Belle Valley Fire Department with termination.

Tuesday: Chief Mike Cliff and the Township Supervisors hold a press conference to publicly attack us, without even bothering to tell us it was happening.

And buried in all of this? A demand that Belle Valley surrender the trucks and equipment our volunteers have built, bought, and protected for decades.

Threaten us. Attack us. Then tell everyone you're “willing to work with” us.

We're calling bu****it.

Read the full statement from Belle Valley Fire Department. The facts speak for themselves.

Belle Valley to Millcreek Fire Chief: You Cannot threaten volunteers and call it cooperation

08/12/2026

Learn more about saving your volunteer fire station @ https://www.bellevalleyfire.org/save-our-station-belle-valley-fire-department

08/12/2026

This campaign isn't about politics. It isn't about personalities. It's about protecting emergency services for the families who call Millcreek home. Every discussion should begin with one question:

What provides the safest possible fire protection for our community? That's the conversation we're asking residents to have.

08/12/2026

A huge thank you to all of our community members who supported our volunteer fire station on Erie Gives Day. Your donations help us continue to protect and serve Belle Valley, and we appreciate each and every one of you.

If you are interested in learning more about how our station works and our role as first responders in Belle Valley, as well as ways you can support us throughout the year, please visit our website @ https://www.bellevalleyfire.org/

08/11/2026

Remember Belle Valley on Erie Gives Day
On Erie Gives Day, please keep Belle Valley Volunteer Fire Department, the Protectors of the Valley since 1938, in mind.

https://www.eriegives.org/organization/belle-valley-fire-department

Donating today is a wonderful opportunity to support our campaign. For generations, the Belle Valley Volunteer Fire Department has proudly served this community. We've launched this public awareness campaign because we believe our neighbors deserve to understand what is happening and why we're concerned about the future of volunteer fire service in Millcreek Township.

08/10/2026

Did you know? When Millcreek Township created its paid fire department, Township officials stated during the January 24, 2023, Board meeting:

"The Millcreek Township Fire Department will not replace the volunteer fire departments, but rather that it will supplement the emergency services that the volunteer fire departments provide."

That statement is part of the official Board meeting record.

Our concern is that the system today is moving away from that original vision. We want to return to that original vision so that both the Volunteer Departments and paid firefighters can protect our community.

08/08/2026

🚒 MYTH: The campaign is about opposing a paid fire department.

✅ FACT: Belle Valley believes a cooperative paid-volunteer model is essential to protecting public safety.

The department's concern is not that a paid department was created. It's that the original vision, as presented when the ordinance was adopted, has changed. That's why the campaign is focused on preserving strong volunteer fire departments while supporting a cooperative fire service model.