Council meets for nearly an hour in executive session on township fire contracts
Lead Summary

By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
The Hillsboro City Council met for nearly an hour in executive session Monday regarding pending contracts for fire services between the city and surrounding townships. However, no discussions regarding the matter took place in open session, and no votes were taken.
Following council's meeting, acting council president Dave Shoemaker and finance committee chairperson Peter Pence told The Highland County Press that council was still seeking information regarding how to proceed in the matter.
Council voted in May to allow Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt to negotiate new fire contracts with the townships. Trustees from Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships addressed council during the Aug. 9 meeting through their legal counsel, Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey regarding the contract increases. The townships have said the increases in the fire contracts are between 42 percent and 76.34 percent.
The matter was put in council's finance committee and street and safety committee for review. The committees met Aug. 25, where Grandey offered a 10-percent increase to the contracts with the option to negotiate for 2012-2015. The meeting ended with council members saying they would work numbers and that they would meet again. No public meeting have been held since Aug. 25, but Pence said that the negotiations have continued.
The contracts were not discussed openly by council Monday, but council members said that more information is needed before they can say if they will accept for decline the 10-percent offer.
"I think council is going out on a seeking mission to collect information, collect figures," Shoemaker said. "We're gathering in all information. There's no stone unturned."
Shoemaker said that he could not comment if the city would accept the 10-percent offer.
Pence said that the city "Needs to look at the department as a whole. There are fixed costs That are going to be there, no matter if we serve the townships. Those figures need to be looked at and some analysis made."
Pence said that it is difficult to break down the figures regarding the costs to the townships, because of the different costs associated with the different types of calls Hillsboro Fire and Rescue responds to. For example, a certain number of EMTs must, he said, to certain types of medical emergencies.
"It takes a little longer to be real precise when you're trying to break the numbers down and make the best estimates with the numbers you have available," Pence said.
The city is also utilizing a new formula on calculating the costs to the townships, Pence said. While the city has not used the formula before, he said that it is used by municipalities throughout the state of Ohio.
Using the formula, the costs are tabulated partially through the numbers of runs to an individual township, but Pence said there are other factors involved. Without looking at the formula specifically, other factors, he said, include, "the management of the department, the building as amaturized over a 40-year period, the equipment is amaturized over a certain period, of time," and other factors.
When asked if any portion of the increase in the contract with an individual township was based on a township's ability to pay, Pence said, "I would not say that would be the case."
"Right now, I hate to say it, but when money gets tight, people start paying attention to their expenses," Pence said. "And this is one of those things. We've serviced the townships for as long as I can remember ... without a problem, but now you have half a million dollars going uncollected and you're paying firefighters and EMS workers to go out and provide services to the townships but we're not getting paid for it in return."
Pence said it was projected that the city would collect around $700,000 for EMS runs, but ended up only taking in around $400,000, and that is a burden the citizens "should not have to bear." If sending a person to collections does not work, the only other recourse the city has is to seek a judgment through court, where actions could be taken to place liens on their property.
"It would cost us money to collect the money," Pence said.
Pence said that the townships have been in talks with Holt and Hillsboro Law Director Fred Beery on working out the contract issues.
"Obviously we'd like to know 'yesterday' what we're going to have to work with," Pence said. "Unfortunately, that's where we find ourselves. We want to be fair to the townships, but at the same time we have a responsibility to the citizens. It's not something that is going to happen over night, unfortunately. I'm sure they'll continue their discussions, and in the mean time, myself and other members of council will be doing our homework on numbers and trying to find out exactly where we need to be in order to make it through next year."
Pence said that he hopes that by the next council meeting, "Either we will have accepted their offer or they will at least have had a counter proposal offer to them. Obviously the sooner we can get it worked out the better off every one is."
• In other business, council heard from Rachelle Trefz and John Levo from the Hillsboro Uptown Business Association, requesting that the city approve a parade route and date for the annual holiday parade. Trefz requested that the parade be held Nov. 27 at 4 p.m., and will follow the parade route from last year. Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink and Hillsboro Police Chief Nick Thompson said that there was some confusion over the route last year after parade participants did not follow the predetermined route. Holt said that he would go to a HUBA meeting where the issues could be further discussed. Council voted 6-0 to approve the date and the pending route.
As he was acting as council president in the absence of Koogler, Shoemaker was not called to vote.
• Voted to waive the three-reading rule and passed as an emergency 6-0 a resolution allowing Holt to accept bids for water main replacement on Highland Drive, at a construction cost not to exceed $120,000.
• Voted 6-0 to authorize previously funded modification to the wastewater treatment plant project, by allowing holt to enter into an agreement with PAE and Associates Inc. for additional services in the amount of $35,787. According to the resolution, the amount "will be deducted from the contingency line item already included in the original bid, with no additional financing required. Shoemaker noted that since it was regarding appropriations already in the contract, three readings were not necessary.
• Heard in the mayor's report a request from Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth regarding a grant the county is seeking for the repaving of Pea Ridge Road. The road is in the city limits from state Route 73 to Fairground Road. The county must pay 11 percent of the cost of the paving, and Zink said the city's portion would be over $7,000. A similar request by the county was rejected from the city earlier this year. Council member Brian Waller said that there were streets in the city that needed more work than Pea Ridge. Holt suggested council members drive the roadway before making their decision. Council members will report their individual decisions to Zink by Friday, Sept. 17 and Zink will inform the county of their decision.
The Hillsboro City Council met for nearly an hour in executive session Monday regarding pending contracts for fire services between the city and surrounding townships. However, no discussions regarding the matter took place in open session, and no votes were taken.
Following council's meeting, acting council president Dave Shoemaker and finance committee chairperson Peter Pence told The Highland County Press that council was still seeking information regarding how to proceed in the matter.
Council voted in May to allow Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt to negotiate new fire contracts with the townships. Trustees from Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships addressed council during the Aug. 9 meeting through their legal counsel, Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey regarding the contract increases. The townships have said the increases in the fire contracts are between 42 percent and 76.34 percent.
The matter was put in council's finance committee and street and safety committee for review. The committees met Aug. 25, where Grandey offered a 10-percent increase to the contracts with the option to negotiate for 2012-2015. The meeting ended with council members saying they would work numbers and that they would meet again. No public meetings have been held since Aug. 25, but Pence said that the negotiations have continued.
The contracts were not discussed openly by council Monday, but council members said that more information is needed before they can say if they will accept for decline the 10-percent offer.
"I think council is going out on a seeking mission to collect information, collect figures," Shoemaker said. "We're gathering in all information. There's no stone unturned."
Shoemaker said that he could not comment if the city would accept the 10-percent offer.
Pence said that the city "Needs to look at the department as a whole. There are fixed costs That are going to be there, no matter if we serve the townships. Those figures need to be looked at and some analysis made."
Pence said that it is difficult to break down the figures regarding the costs to the townships, because of the different costs associated with the different types of calls Hillsboro Fire and Rescue responds to. For example, a certain number of EMTs must, he said, to certain types of medical emergencies.
"It takes a little longer to be real precise when you're trying to break the numbers down and make the best estimates with the numbers you have available," Pence said.
The city is also utilizing a new formula on calculating the costs to the townships, Pence said. While the city has not used the formula before, he said that it is used by municipalities throughout the state of Ohio.
Using the formula, the costs are tabulated partially through the numbers of runs to an individual township, but Pence said there are other factors involved. Without looking at the formula specifically, other factors, he said, include, "the management of the department, the building as amaturized over a 40-year period, the equipment is amaturized over a certain period, of time," and other factors.
When asked if any portion of the increase in the contract with an individual township was based on a township's ability to pay, Pence said, "I would not say that would be the case."
"Right now, I hate to say it, but when money gets tight, people start paying attention to their expenses," Pence said. "And this is one of those things. We've serviced the townships for as long as I can remember ... without a problem, but now you have half a million dollars going uncollected and you're paying firefighters and EMS workers to go out and provide services to the townships but we're not getting paid for it in return."
Pence said it was projected that the city would collect around $700,000 for EMS runs, but ended up only taking in around $400,000, and that is a burden the citizens "should not have to bear." If sending a person to collections does not work, the only other recourse the city has is to seek a judgment through court, where actions could be taken to place liens on their property.
"It would cost us money to collect the money," Pence said.
Pence said that the townships have been in talks with Holt and Hillsboro Law Director Fred Beery on working out the contract issues.
"Obviously we'd like to know 'yesterday' what we're going to have to work with," Pence said. "Unfortunately, that's where we find ourselves. We want to be fair to the townships, but at the same time we have a responsibility to the citizens. It's not something that is going to happen over night, unfortunately. I'm sure they'll continue their discussions, and in the mean time, myself and other members of council will be doing our homework on numbers and trying to find out exactly where we need to be in order to make it through next year."
Pence said that he hopes that by the next council meeting, "Either we will have accepted their offer or they will at least have had a counter proposal offer to them. Obviously the sooner we can get it worked out the better off every one is."
• In other business, council heard from Rachelle Trefz and John Levo from the Hillsboro Uptown Business Association, requesting that the city approve a parade route and date for the annual holiday parade. Trefz requested that the parade be held Nov. 27 at 4 p.m., and will follow the parade route from last year. Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink and Hillsboro Police Chief Nick Thompson said that there was some confusion over the route last year after parade participants did not follow the predetermined route. Holt said that he would go to a HUBA meeting where the issues could be further discussed. Council voted 6-0 to approve the date and the pending route.
As he was acting as council president in the absence of Koogler, Shoemaker was not called to vote.
• Voted to waive the three-reading rule and passed as an emergency 6-0 a resolution allowing Holt to accept bids for water main replacement on Highland Drive, at a construction cost not to exceed $120,000.
• Voted 6-0 to authorize previously funded modification to the wastewater treatment plant project, by allowing holt to enter into an agreement with PAE and Associates Inc. for additional services in the amount of $35,787. According to the resolution, the amount "will be deducted from the contingency line item already included in the original bid, with no additional financing required. Shoemaker noted that since it was regarding appropriations already in the contract, three readings were not necessary.
• Heard in the mayor's report a request from Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth regarding a grant the county is seeking for the repaving of Pea Ridge Road. The road is in the city limits from state Route 73 to Fairground Road. The county must pay 11 percent of the cost of the paving, and Zink said the city's portion would be over $7,000. A similar request by the county was rejected from the city earlier this year. Council member Brian Waller said that there were streets in the city that needed more work than Pea Ridge. Holt suggested council members drive the roadway before making their decision. Council members will report their individual decisions to Zink by Friday, Sept. 17 and Zink will inform the county of their decision.
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