SOUTH HADLEY — A preliminary report on shared services between Fire District 1 and Fire District 2 outline several possibilities for collaboration on purchasing new equipment and standardizing technological systems between the two governing bodies.

Facilitated by the Pioneer Valley Planning Committee, the two Prudential Committees, Boards of Water Commissioners and district leadership met at least eight times to discuss the history of the two districts, differences in systems and operations and near future steps toward more shared services. Many of the suggested areas for shared services will require standardizing operations, linking staffing practices and acquiring similar management systems before discussing shared staff and leadership.

“They (the districts) are not radically different, but they are different,” Eric Weiss, director of economic and municipal collaboration at PVPC, told the Select Board during their Jan. 21 meeting. “Those differences have to be overcome for there to be more sharing of services.”

The report, Weiss continued, is not describing what the districts should do, but rather what personnel, operations and equipment the governing bodies could consolidate as monetary resources are stretched thinner.

The discussion hit several tense moments as leaders of the districts disagreed. Push back from residents and district employees is common during these discussions, Weiss said, as people prefer approaches that seem to work well for them, and compromise is “not a natural inclination in terms of getting things done.”

“We were able to flush out a lot of things that hadn’t be flushed out before,” said Ken Leblanc, who chairs Prudential Committee District 2. “The good news is we were able to come together at the end and find some agreement on things, and I think more of that types of conversation is what’s needed.”

Before detailing any considerations for changes, the report acknowledges services and resources currently shared between the districts. In addition to the automatic aid and mutual aid agreements, the two fire departments often train together. Since District 1 emergency medical technicians are licensed at a higher level than District 2, the two districts often respond to District 2 calls together for a much smaller fee than a private ambulance service.

Additionally, the Water Departments regularly share equipment, staff, vehicles and opening interconnections in emergency services or to fill temporary vacancies.

“The two districts already do quite a bit of sharing resources like that and they know how to communicate with each other to do that,” Weiss said.

The recommendations for additional shared services are the beginning steps toward a larger process of sharing services and personnel. For instance, Fire District 1 currently has an employee conducting inspections full time, and District 2 has an employee inspecting equipment part time. By creating a shared inspection services team, the districts would create a more uniform inspection process and alleviate staffing challenges for inspections.

Town Administrator Lisa Wong also pitched to the Select Board that the municipality could apply for an Community Compact Information Technology Grant on the district’s behalf to standardize water metering and radio reading systems throughout South Hadley. Wong said she will reach out to both districts and request their input before bringing the grant back to the Select Board at the Feb. 4 meeting.

Other shared services that could begin within two years are joint grant applications, joint procurement of equipment and vehicles, standardization of water utility billing and even shared water commission staff to carry out daily duties like water mains, backflow, meter reading and general maintenance.

While Weiss said the report reignited old conversations about shared services, the two districts need more communication and compromise before they could share fire department staff, a clerk treasurer or a fire chief. Not only are the schedule and payroll systems different between the two districts, but District 1 is the only district with a labor union.

Pauline McLaughlin, chair of the Board of Water Commissioners for District 1, added that a long-term model with cost analysis is necessary to decipher the best way to overlap personnel and services before making any major changes to each district. A shared service model and plan is one of the reports top 10 recommendations, along with planning quarterly meetings between the districts and continued examination of overlapping staffing and capital needs.

“I see this as a really big opportunity for both the districts and the town,” Weiss said. “It’s the beginning of a conversation, not meant to be the end.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.