Welcome! Vernon Township is located in the northwest corner of Hancock County, Indiana. Our office represents the historic main street town of Fortville, the growing town of McCordsville and the adjacent unincorporated rural community with majestic round barns and bountiful fields. 

Township Update as of August 15, 2019

What is the Township Doing in 2019?

The Township is at a very important juncture in our history as we transition from all volunteer fire to a professional fire department. In the first six months of this year we have:

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• Formed Vernon Township Fire Department (VTFD)

• Hired a part-time Fire Chief, Todd Jordan and part-time Deputy Trustee (our CFO), Amanda Fronek

• Opened the first Vernon Township Fire Station (#3) in Fortville for Operations

• Contracted both Fortville and McCordsville Volunteer Fire Departments as part of VTFD.

• Hired 15 paid part-time firefighter/emt to cover day shift 7 a.m. -7 p.m. 

• Moved Township Office to the SEALS office and moved SEALS Ambulance service to the new station.

• Sold two excess properties (104 Main Street and 726 W. Broadway) to help pay for the first debt payment on the new station.

• Centralized the financial management of the fire budget.

• Formed the Vernon Township Fire Task Force.  See: First Task Force Meeting Link https://www.vernontownship.us/post/vernon-township-public-safety-task-force Second Task Force Meeting Link: https://www.vernontownship.us/post/vernon-township-public-safety-task-force-1

• Hired new financial advisor, Michael Reuter and conducted internal financial workshop
   

This has been an enormous change for everyone and the pace will continue through the end of the year. Presently, we are focused on a very busy next 12 weeks:

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• Public Opening of the New Fire Station in Fortville on September 7. Public ceremony to meet your firefighters starts at 10:30 a.m. Tours, Food and Activities until 4:00 p.m. (See events page)

• Bid review for Ambulance Service.  This is a critical item. We must make major structural changes to become revenue producing. 

• 2020 Budgeting workshop and process. 

• Lease/Sale options for the Medical Center Complex and additional land behind the new fire station.

• 2017-18 SBOA Audit. As we were an all new staff as of January 1, this is an educational experience.

• Exploring every option to improve our financial and operational capacity to support 24-7-365 Fire and Ambulance Service to Fortville, McCordsville and unincorporated Vernon Township. This list is very long.

• We have more responsibilities than fire and ambulance and sadly we have starved some of our other funds (parks in particular) in order to maximize our public safety efforts. We need to get creative in other areas.

• We are working closely with McCordsville, Fortville, Hancock County EMA/911, our surrounding mutual aid fire departments, Mt Vernon Schools, Hancock Regional Hospital, Hancock County Economic Development, Love Inc, our 5 Food Pantries and many others. We are seeking partnerships that help create a stronger community.

Wish to learn more about Vernon Township?

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To learn more, I encourage you to review this website and visit our facebook pages at Vernon Township - Hancock County https://www.facebook.com/vernontownshipindiana/?modal=admin_todo_tour and Vernon Township Fire Department https://www.facebook.com/VernonTownshipFD/

 

Sincerely,

Florence L. May
Trustee (effective January 1, 2019)
Vernon Township, Hancock County

Amanda Fronek
Deputy Trustee (effective January 1, 2019)
Vernon Township, Hancock County