WAYNE (WWJ) – Two Wayne County cities are heeding Governor Rick Snyder’s call for more teamwork in making sure Michigan citizens get the services they need.

The cities of Wayne and Westland on Monday celebrated the consolidation of their advanced life support and fire services.

Wayne/Westland Fire Chief Michael Reddy said the merger would not have been possible without the corporation of unions.

“For other communities that wanna accomplish something like this, you gotta bring the unions to the table early,” Reddy said. “Get your memberships so they have a voice so you have buy-in. If not, as you can see throughout the state why these things fail is because you don’t do that.”

Westland Mayor William Wild says the merger will save both cities hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Just having one combined chief for two departments saves the two cities combined $250,000,” Wild said. “With that said, we also knew that because declining property values it was becoming more and more difficult to sustain two separate departments.”

Wayne and Westland have a history of sharing services such as their school districts and recreation departments.