The decision will, as one trustee put it, "change the face of Lakewood" by closing the village's only fire station on Haligus Road and operating out of a Crystal Lake station on the other side of town.
The Lakewood Village Board voted, 3-1, with one trustee abstaining Tuesday night, to go with a slightly cheaper contract offered by the Crystal Lake Fire Department that tied increases to the village's tax base over renewing its contract with the Woodstock Fire Rescue Protection District.
The move led to one angry objection from a resident and the Woodstock fire chief walking out of the meeting, which was full of Woodstock firefighters and staff.
"I still don't know what I'm paying for as a taxpayer," resident Linda Wagner said.
Under Woodstock's offer, the public works facility turned fire station would continue to house three firefighters – two who also are certified paramedics and one who is an emergency medical technician, Woodstock Fire Chief Ralph Webster said.
The agreement would cost $750,000 the first year and increase by 1.5 percent each of the next four years, according to a letter sent by Webster to the village. The village also would pay an annual $25,000 capital contribution to go toward equipment purchases.
The board, instead, went with Crystal Lake's offer, which was based on the department's existing agreement with the Crystal Lake Rural Fire Protection District.