Highlights included a reduction of yard waste pickup to monthly instead of biweekly, a reduction of one firefighter position, cost-of-living increases for other staff salaries and savings through increased energy efficiency.
The 13-1 vote authorizes city staff to begin negotiating the terms of a possible agreement while seeking answers to some of the remaining questions about how such a merger would work and how a joint department would be managed and governed.
Wauwatosa Civic Celebration Commission members were optimistic that a partnership with West Allis would produce an even more spectacular fireworks display for both communities while crucially alleviating concerns in Tosa over public safety, staffing and cost.
Updates to City Hall and the Civic Center and an expansion of Wauwatosa Public Library have been discussed for years, but construction likely wouldn't start any earlier than 2028.
The Wauwatosa Professional Firefighters Association is open to supporting a potential merger of the Tosa and West Allis fire department, which its president calls "a defining moment for both cities."
The bell outside Wauwatosa's fire headquarters originally rang on the USS Wisconsin, commissioned in 1901. A group wants to move it to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.
