A final reading and vote by the Hillsboro City Council on a resolution on EMS and fire services has been delayed, after council cancelled a special meeting that had previously been scheduled for Monday.

    Council held a special session Friday evening in the Hillsboro Municipal Courtroom, with nearly 50 area residents - including approximately a dozen non-firefighter city employees - in attendance.

    After two and a half hours in executive session to discuss contract negotiations and safety issues, Council President Lee Koogler said that a second meeting, scheduled for Monday evening, had been cancelled.

A group of employees with the city of Hillsboro is drafting a petition to present to the Hillsboro City Council, asking them to look at all sides and consider who will be impacted in decisions regarding the current budgeting issues and the pending resolution proposing the city disband Hillsboro Fire and Rescue and contract with the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District for services.

    Heather Flint, a special administrative assistant II who works in the city's administrative office, said that the petition was her idea.

    The city of Hillsboro is facing a projected negative balance of $670,572 by the end of 2013, leading into a negative starting balance of $420,572, if drastic cuts are not made in the city budget.

    In a press conference held Thursday in the Hillsboro City Building, Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis said that the fiscally responsible option for the Hillsboro City Council to take is to contract with the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District for services. However, even if the city enters into such a service agreement, a 15-percent cut in general fund departments would still be necessary for the city to have a balanced, functional budget.

Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis has called a press conference for Thursday morning to follow up on his recent report that the city is in a critical financial state.

    "The purpose of the conference will be to follow up on my comments from Monday’s council meeting. I believe it is important to inform the public about the condition of our General Fund going into the second half of this year and what next year will look like with the prospect of changes in our fire and EMS operations," Lewis said.

State Treasurer Josh Mandel toured the Greenfield Exempted Village School District today to discuss their participation in the innovative new STAR Plus program to help maintain security and improve return on public deposits.

The board of trustees of the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District unanimously voted Tuesday night to allow Liberty and New Market townships to join the district, effective Oct. 1.

    The board met for their regular meeting Tuesday night at the district's station in Greenfield.

    Board member William Redenbaugh, said the district had two resolutions before them, one from New Market and one from Liberty township, requesting to join the district. Redenbaugh made a motion to accept the townships into the district.

Adena Home Health and Adena Hospice have each earned a three-year accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Inc. (ACHC).

With more than 75 people in attendance - with many wearing shirts that read "Save The Hillsboro Fire Department" - the Hillsboro City Council denied an administration-proposed emergency resolution to hire a legal counsel to be used in negotiations with the Hillsboro firefighters' union.

     Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings said that instead of "Save Our Firefighters" the residents should be saying, "Save Our City" because the fiscal situation the city finds itself in.