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Ramsey, Nowthen, St. Francis, Oak Grove, and Bethel, Minnesota <br />Feasibility Study for Shared or Cooperative Fire and Emergency Services <br />of one entity into another, preserving the governing body and taxing authority of the surviving agency. A <br />legal merger, on the other hand, usually entails the complete dissolution of two or more agencies with <br />the concurrent formation of a single new entity (and governing body) in place of the former. <br />Statutory allowances to accommodate various forms of merger and consolidation are limited in <br />Minnesota Law and, to achieve some forms of unification, legislative action is necessary to provide the <br />authority to do so. A useful example of this type of unification is the Cloquet Fire District where the City <br />of Cloquet, Perch Lake Township, and the City of Scanlon agreed to join forces as a single, unified <br />organization. To do so, however, the communities had to petition the legislature for a special law that <br />would create the state's first independent fire district with taxing authority. They were successful in <br />doing so. <br />Because ESCI often finds that study agencies are reluctant to relinquish control of their respective fire <br />departments to a full consolidation, the intent of this project is evaluate potential opportunities and to <br />provide information to policymakers with which they can make informed and successful decisions <br />regarding the future of fire protection and emergency services within their respective communities. <br />rro eery 9errices Cornrrlring <br />page 83 <br />