Fire district approves service fee; Rosenberger tours Greenfield

The Paint Creek Joint Fire and EMS District will begin charging $300 per run in January for calls for service outside the district a board member reported to the Greenfield Village Council this week. 

William Redenbaugh, a Greenfield council member and member of the fire district's board of trustees, said that during the district's Oct. 26 meeting a resolution was passed to add the charge. 

Redenbaugh said the decision came "after lengthy discussion, and conferring with (the district's legal counsel) the Highland County Prosecutor (Anneka Collins)." Redenbaugh said that the fee will not apply when they are called outside the district to cover mutual aid runs. 

"This is for runs outside the district and people who are not our constituents," Redenbaugh said. "This is to cover the costs of the district."

Redenbaugh said that the move is in keeping with the promise the district made to voters when they formed the district nearly two years ago, which was to be as fiscally responsible with the taxpayers' dollars as possible. 

The Paint Creek Joint Fire and EMS District is made up of the village of Greenfield, Madison and Buckskin townships and Ross County's Paint Township. They are funded through a 5.5-mill levy that was agreed upon by voters when the district formed. 

Redenbaugh said that district representatives recently met with Mark Heiny, an architect from Washington C.H., regarding possible expansion to the district's headquarters. He said that this was the first step in a long process.

"We're not breaking ground and we're not building the Taj Mahal," Redenbaugh said. 

The district is applying for grants and other funding sources, however, Redenbaugh said that most grants require that projects be "shovel ready" in that they can say exactly what they want to build and how much it is going to cost. 

"We're going to watch every penny, because they're your dollars, not ours," Redenbaugh said.

Ohio 86th District Representative Cliff Rosenberger spent Tuesday in Greenfield, meeting with village officials, business owners, students and the police and fire chiefs as part of an initiative by the representative to get to know the municipalities of the 86th district. 

Rosenberger praised the work of area civil servants to council. 

"You have some of the finest police officers and firefighters in the area," Rosenberger said, regarding his meeting with Greenfield Police Chief Tim Hester and Paint Creek Joint Fire and EMS Chief Bradley George. "

Rosenberger toured the manufacturing facilities in Greenfield of C-Mold,  Greenfield Research and Johnson Controls, as well as the entire length of the railroad line from Greenfield to New Vienna. 

In a time of economic uncertainty, Rosenberger said that he was encouraged that with each company he met with, "I heard, 'We're ready to expand.' That's an exciting thing." 

The represenative spoke about the importance of the railroad to the Greenfield area and the need to secure funds to repair and upgrade it because, "these jobs are dependent on it." 

On Nov. 9, he said, he will be meeting with the Ohio Department of Development regarding the railroad and funding. 

Rosenberger spent most of the day with Greenfield City Manager Betty Bishop and council president Betty Jackman, along with Highland County Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer and legislative liaison Maggie Horst from Third District Congressman Mike Turner's Office. He also met with village employees, and toured the McClain Schools. 

Bishop told council that she was glad to have the opportunity to show Greenfield and its merits to Rosenberger. 

"(Rosenberger) asked us to put together a 'Greenfield Day' for him," Bishop said. "We pretty well got all of his requests included, which consisted of eating all three meals in Greenfield (which was lunch with students at Greenfield McClain schools) meeting with the fire and police chiefs, touring the Greenfield railroad, a tour around the community, and meeting with business and industrial representatives. It was a packed day for him." 

Bishop told council that in all the years she has spent working in government, she has never had a legislator ask to spend an entire day in a local community. 

"I think the residents of Greenfield will be the better for it," Bishop said. 

In other business, finance director Carolyn Snodgrass reported that preliminary reports showed expenditures in October were $241,826 and receipts were $384,869.