Citizens address council on fire negotiations

The Hillsboro city administration's negotiations with the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District generated a variety of concerns from the standing-room-only crowd at the October council meeting, Tuesday evening.

Addressing the large crowd, council president Lee Koogler requested that those attending as a group should "have one individual come forward and speak," and that he would try to limit citizens' comments to three minutes to allow for all business to be conducted.

Hillsboro Firefighter Marc Bayless opened fire-related discussions with council, although his comments were of a different nature.

Bayless, who introduced himself as an 18-year veteran of the Hillsboro Fire Department, came to tell council that "amongst all the negativity that's been flying around over the last 20 months, I'm here to tell you about something positive that has occurred."

Bayless informed council that a local business donated 300 smoke detectors for the Hillsboro Fire Department "to do a smoke detector blitz for the low-income, the elderly and anybody that cannot afford this life-saving device."

Bayless said that he believed the project could save lives, referencing a recent Hillsboro fire.

"A lot of homes in Hillsboro do not have these, and with that, recently, we had a tragedy in our city which should not have happened," Bayless said. "A 15-year-old girl died. This could have saved her life."

Bayless said that the 300 donated smoke detectors are "a start" in helping the community. He told council that the state has a similar program in place, and that he is working with the state of Ohio to determine "where these go, when these go and how they're controlled and how they're disseminated."

Bayless received applause from both council and citizens in attendance.

• • •

Ryan Passet of the Hillsboro Fire Department followed, giving a brief presentation to council "on what the Hillsboro Fire Department offers to you."

"The Hillsboro Fire Department has been in place for well over 100 years," Passet said.

"We've been serving this community. The guys that are currently remaining on the Hillsboro Fire Department are six full-time firefighter paramedics trained at the highest level. We can give life-saving drugs – every member of our department."

Passet told council that "being a part of this community allows [Hillsboro firefighters] to know things that other people don't," citing numerous examples of houses that are hazardous to firefighters; individuals in the city who require special assistance or medical attention; and the amount of water pressure each fire hydrant supplies.

"These are a few of the things that being a member of the Hillsboro Fire Department has taught myself and the remaining members of the department," Passet said. "I've been on the Hillsboro Fire Department for almost six years, and I am considered a junior member of the department. My senior members are 15-year veterans of this department, and what I just listed is a tiny piece of what they know.

"I want everyone in this room to take caution when they make considerations of hiring someone from the outside to take care of what we have taken care of for so many years."

Passet ended his presentation by asking council, "Who will you have serve the citizens who elect you and have paid the taxes for the department that we already have?"

Passet's presentation was met with applause from citizens in attendance.

• • •

Hillsboro resident Chris Matthews next addressed council on the fire/EMS issue and criticized the administration for refusing to "shop local."

"All I seem to read these days is the fact that everything is being outsourced –lawyers, engineers, fire department being tried to do that," Matthews said.

"Nothing seems to be good enough in town for the administration to latch onto and use. That concerns me because we pay salaries to a lot of people, and if we can't use their services, then what are we doing?"

Matthews said his "concerns are about protecting taxpayers," and asked council about the impact on city taxes if the city contracts with Paint Creek. Matthews questioned the possibility of a levy on property owners.

"To me, that is a double tax," Matthews said. "That is not very good for the taxpayers, right? If this passes through, what happens to our city income tax that we're paying for a fire department?"

Matthews also asked what would happen to the Hillsboro Fire Department building and its equipment.

"Also, how soon will it be before Paint Creek isn't big enough and they require more money for more equipment to cover all the areas they've picked up?" Matthews asked.

Koogler answered Matthews by telling him that the resolution before council was in regards to contracting with, not joining, the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District.

"Joining would require millage, ultimately, but contracting would not," Koogler said.

Koogler's response regarding the Hillsboro Fire Department's building and equipment was that "if the city were to contract [with Paint Creek], those are still things that could be negotiated."

• • • 

Mark Sanders, president of the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, addressed council in what was the most heated exchange of the evening.

Sanders, who is also a Cincinnati firefighter, said that the OAPFF "represents 12,000 firefighters across Ohio," and that he had come to address the administration and council, originally, to "offer expertise," but he also issued advice and warnings to council.

"When they go into executive session, I would hope that council would take three long months of meetings and three readings to look at the details, because the devil will be in the details," Sanders said. "To rush this type of thing through without public discourse, I think, will send fear through the community, and rightly so.

"I think it is incumbent upon this council to give the citizens a fair shake so they can analyze this, because they're going to have to live with it, one way or another."

Sanders called it "a historic decision."

"It's important that you get all sides of the equation," Sanders said.

Sanders had attempted to return to his seat but returned to answer questions from Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings.

"I appreciate you coming down from Columbus," Hastings said.

"Cincinnati," Sanders said.

"One of our local people [Mr. Matthews] talked about using local resources, and the fire department has elected to bring you in from somewhere else," Hastings said.

"I came in on my own, sir," Sanders said.

"OK, that's good. Let me ask you a quick question. Do you represent the IAFF local that is in the fire district uptown?" Hastings asked.

"Yes, Paint Creek," Sanders said.

"Can I ask you, is it uncommon in a city of 6,600 people in Ohio, that we would have two IAFF locals here? Would we be the only case in the state of Ohio where that exists?" Hastings asked.

"It's quite common in Ohio," Sanders said. "I'm sure you're aware of Ohio's history with townships, fire districts, cities, that you can have multiple jurisdictions within a region. Cincinnati has 52 fire departments. Certainly I am a proponent someday, hopefully, of regionalization. I would hope that your report would look at augmenting the service for the entire community, keeping the members you have, bolstering that service in the city and not replacing the members, but working to that end is quite possible.

Sanders told Hastings that he has been following the issue through the media, and that the Hillsboro Fire Department did not request his attendance.

"If you were just going to eliminate the fire department in general, replace it with current the Paint Creek township – certainly they're our members, but we're different because we see life and death," Sanders said.

Sanders told Hastings that shutting down the Hillsboro Fire Department would lead to longer response times due to "the same amount of people now going to be doing double the work" and again offered assistance and volunteered to look at mapping of responses.

"Mr. Sanders, let me just bring you up because you've been reading news reports," Hastings said. "Where we are now, as an option, where we have brought this to, is that we have – and we've done our homework, you had asked that this council consider three readings – but what we've done is we've looked at this for 18 months.

"Where we are right now is we have brought a situation together where we have a fire department in the same place that has been there for 30 or 40 years uptown, manned by the same local union, by the same equipment and by the same personnel that used to work for the HFD, and yet, our people don't want – our department doesn't want anything to do with that. Now, that tells me that this is not about coverage, Mr. Sanders. This is about money and power.

"Now, if, in a perfect world, and we all wanted to do a win/win deal, our people, our fire department, would say, 'Let's work with this. Let's make this happen. Let's hook up with this district. We'll be back home again where we were, we'll be in the same facility, we'll be having the same coverage area that we always had.' But they didn't want any part of that, and why? Because the IAFF local contract that is down over the hill on East Street is one of the richest, is it not, in the state of Ohio, that is arguably – there's no way that you're going to give up without a real fight."

"I'm not going to debate, but I wouldn't call a contract 'rich,'" Sanders said. "If somebody can't get off work to get married, I wouldn't call that contract 'rich.'" [Sanders was referencing a Hillsboro firefighter who told The Highland County Press he was recently denied time off by the city for his wedding.]

As Hastings and Sanders began to raise their voices toward each other, Koogler interjected, telling them that they were "getting to be counterproductive."

Sanders was also applauded by citizens in attendance.

• • •

Hillsboro citizen Richard Stiffler also discussed concerns on the fire issue.

Stiffler criticized the administration for comments on the firefighters' wages, stating that overtime is necessary because "if you don't have the manpower, someone has to step up to the plate to take that role on."

In addition to complaints on the fire resolution, Stiffler suggested that the city put the issue on the ballot.

"Why couldn't we put it to the voters of Hillsboro to put more on city taxes for everyone to keep our fire department and keep it well-staffed rather than go with a district?" Stiffler asked.

Stiffler asked council if they would rather have a department with "firefighter paramedics that can save a person's life," or a department that "can go in and douse the house fire" but will have to transport victims to the hospital.

• • •

Kirby Ellison, a former clerk in the Hillsboro mayor's office, followed Stiffler's address with her own concerns, regarding income tax.

"I agree that you are saying we're not entering into a fire district, or we may or may not be, but once you contract with the fire district, you no longer have a fire department," Ellison said. "It seems to me there is some kind of language about a year ago that Paint Creek would not – they're not really allowed to contact long-term with somebody for services. At some point, the city of Hillsboro would have to join. They wouldn't have a fire department from contacting with them, they would join. There would be a real estate tax increase.

"This council, and the next council that comes in and is sworn in … you owe it to the people of Hillsboro to address the income tax. If you're going to do this, then you need to own it. You don't need to just push it back. If you're not going to roll back the income tax, man up and say it. If you are, do so."

• • •

Robyn Coomer, a member of the Highland County Board of Realtors, addressed council on their ongoing discussions over the proposed vacant property ordinance. As previously reported in The Highland County Press, Coomer voiced her concerns with the wording of the ordinance at a meeting last month. The committee met later in the month to discuss rewording of the ordinance.

"Today, I received a copy that was the most updated version of the ordinance," Coomer said. "There were three words and two sentences changed in the ordinance. I would address council and ask that you readdress this issue. It's not a good thing for buyers, for uptown, or actually, in the city of Hillsboro. There's a lot of issues with it."

Coomer said that the ordinance appeared to be identical to the ordinance presented in September, "just plus or minus a word or two."

Coomer also criticized a lack of "specifics" in the ordinance.

Council addressed the ordinance later in the evening, with council member Bonnie Parr, chair of the property maintenance and restoration meeting, recommending to council not to take action on the ordinance other than a first reading.

• • •

Uptown Hillsboro business owner Christine Kerley voiced a complaint with the uptown parking ordinance based on negative feedback from customers.

Kerley told council that several of her customers, whom she said were from out of town, were recently issued parking tickets after parking uptown and shopping at several different stores in the area.

Kerley told council that her customers most likely were not aware of the parking ordinance, and that she only counted three "two-hour limit" signs in uptown.

"Those three signs are spread out amongst eight parking spots between each sign," Kerley said. "If you park in, and you get out of your car, there's no visibility that there's a two-hour limit."

Kerley proposed two suggestions: to install more signs, or to allow out-of-town visitors to "waive that first parking fee" by presenting a receipt from an uptown store.

Koogler placed the issue in the streets and safety committee. Brian Waller, committee chair, said that he plans to call a meeting to discuss uptown parking.

"We have a specific parking plan that we're working on uptown for trying to acquire some more property in each little quadrant of uptown to provide more parking, be it for employees or for customers," Hastings told Kerley. "That being said … if we didn't have that parking enforcement, and those spots had all been filled out front, they wouldn't have come in and spent $100 or $200 in your store."