Townships considering all options for fire service, including forming a fire district
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Representatives from area townships currently in negotiations regarding fire services with the city of Hillsboro met informally Monday evening to discuss their options - including the possible formation of their own fire district - in the event a contract agreement cannot be reached with the city.
Seven area townships, Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington, through their legal counsel Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey are trying to come to a meeting of the minds with the city after the city proposed contract increases between 42 percent and 76.34 percent for each of the townships. Township leadership have said they cannot afford the increases, and that the new contract also includes billing for EMS services, a move that the townships cannot legally fund through their fire levies.
During the meeting Monday held at the Liberty Township building, where all townships involved in the negotiations were represented except Jackson Township, Paint Township Trustee Stephen Carnes started the discussion by saying, "What are we going to do if it gets to be December and they (the city) tell us they aren't going to accept anything other than their original offer?"
Liberty Township Trustee Jim Grove said that they need to look at all the options they had available. Grove invited Johnny Johnson, chief of the Clinton-Highland Joint Fire and EMS District, to speak regarding the process of forming a fire district. The group also reviewed a portion of Ohio Revised Code Section 505.375 regarding fire and ambulance district creation.
During an Aug. 24 meeting of council's finance committee, Grandey offered a 10-percent increase to the contracts for 2011, with the option of then negotiating future years so that levies can be placed on future ballots. After much discussion between the two parties, council said they would meet on the matter. Council met in executive session for more than an hour regarding the contracts during their Sept. 13 regular meeting. Later that week, Grandey told The Highland County Press that the townships authorized him to increase that offer to 12 percent. The city has not yet responded or held public discussion regarding the matter since the Aug. 25 committee meeting. The finance committee met Sept. 30 in executive session to discuss the townships, but did not comment publicly afterward. The matter was not discussed by council during their October meeting.
The trustees said Monday night that there has been no communication from the city, and they themselves were not aware of the status of the negotiations.
Grandey was not in attendance at the meeting, but told The Highland County Press that, "While no one wants to sever a relationship with the city, I have advised the townships to explore all of their options, and that's what the meeting was. There is nothing official, they are just looking at all of the 'what ifs.'"
Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt told The Highland County Press on Tuesday that "We really haven't come up with anything yet. We're going back to the townships and I've talked with the law director and we're going to contact the prosecutor and we will sit down at that time whenever we get everyone's schedules together."
When asked by the HCP if that meant the city was rejecting the township's 12-percent counter-offer, Holt said, "I'm saying that we are continuing to negotiate contracts, which are good for this year. What we are negotiating for is 2011."
Holt said the contracts expire Dec. 31.
Grove said that he has tried to contact city representatives and not received a response.
"Does anybody have any more ideas what we going to do if they don't take us?" Grove asked.
Paint Township representatives discussed possibly joining the Paint Creek Joint Fire and Ambulance District out of Greenfield. They said that when the district formed last year, an offer to join had been extended, but they declined because they were satisfied with their service with Hillsboro.
"I've been told the Hillsboro fire department wants to get out of the emergency run business to the townships," Grove said.
John McLaughlin, a Liberty Township trustee, said that he was under the impression that if Hillsboro stopped making runs to the townships they would have to lay off members from the current fire staff.
"The city's broke, and they have to come up with money some way," McLaughlin said. "So they're coming after us. I don't know why they don't go after the residents of the city."
Johnson told the townships' leaders about the process he went through in 1996 when the New Vienna Fire Department, which covered the village, part of Wayne and Green Townships in Clinton County and Penn and Union Townships in Highland County, formed the district.
There is a 4.3-mill levy that the voters passed for the fire coverage, he said, which brings in approximately $220,000. Their department has one full-time office clerk, who also does runs with the life squad, and two part-time employees. The rest of the department is comprised of volunteers, who receive $10 an hour while they are on runs.
When asked if they had trouble keeping enough volunteers to staff the departments, Johnson said that sometimes having a few good people to consistently go on runs is all you need to staff the department. He said that some years they struggle to get volunteers, and others years there are plenty of people. There is a lot of training involved for volunteers, and the time commitment is something that can be hard to keep up with while holding down a full-time job, some of the other trustees said.
In addition to the funds they receive from the levy, the district also does soft billing for fire runs. However, Johnson said that they do not collect a significant portion of what they bill out.
"The money is real nice to have when you get it, but I would advise you to make your budget so you could stay in business even if you didn't have it," Johnson said.
The village of New Vienna sold the district their equipment for $1, and new trucks and equipment, and a new building constructed in 2003, came from donations from the community and the levy. Besides some small equipment grants, he said they had no grant funding in creating the department.
"The voters have never turned us down for anything we've asked for," Johnson said. "But we've never asked them for anything they should have turned us down on, either."
Carnes said that he felt that $220,000 would not be enough if the seven townships decided to form a district. With the distance the proposed district would have to cover, it would limit the number of volunteers available, because they must be located within five minutes of the fire station.
"I think we would have to have full-time firefighters," Carnes said.
It was discussed if multiple stations would be needed, and where they could possibly be located, including in the Rocky Fork Lake area.
Johnson advised the group to get a solid count on who the participants would be in the district, and who the tax base would be, and if the tax base could support it.
"They used to say fires were put out with water," Johnson said. "Now they're put out with money."
When asked if the proposed district would ask the city of Hillsboro to join, Paint Township trustee Randy Mustard said that he didn't want to play games, and he would vote to include them if they wanted to join. Additionally, he said that they would never deny mutual aid if Hillsboro needed it, and he was sure they would say the same thing.
Carnes asked how many people were seriously interested in moving forward with the idea of creating a district. Several people spoke up that they had concerns, particularly regarding if enough volunteer staff would be available. However, they said that don't want to be in a position where they have to negotiate with the city every single year.
Johnson was asked if thought that eventually, whatever the outcomes of the negotiations, if he thought the townships would have to form a district. Johnson said that with population growth, it seemed like something that would be inevitable.
Representatives from area townships currently in negotiations regarding fire services with the city of Hillsboro met informally Monday evening to discuss their options - including the possible formation of their own fire district - in the event a contract agreement cannot be reached with the city.
Seven area townships, Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington, through their legal counsel Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey are trying to come to a meeting of the minds with the city after the city proposed contract increases between 42 percent and 76.34 percent for each of the townships. Township leadership have said they cannot afford the increases, and that the new contract also includes billing for EMS services, a move that the townships cannot legally fund through their fire levies.
During the meeting Monday held at the Liberty Township building, where all townships involved in the negotiations were represented except Jackson Township, Paint Township Trustee Steven Karnes started the discussion by saying, "What are we going to do if it gets to be December and they (the city) tell us they aren't going to accept anything other than their original offer?"
Liberty Township Trustee Jim Grove said that they need to look at all the options they had available. Grove invited Johnny Johnson, chief of the Clinton-Highland Joint Fire and EMS District, to speak regarding the process of forming a fire district. The group also reviewed a portion of Ohio Revised Code Section 505.375 regarding fire and ambulance district creation.
During an Aug. 24 meeting of council's finance committee, Grandey offered a 10-percent increase to the contracts for 2011, with the option of then negotiating future years so that levies can be placed on future ballots. After much discussion between the two parties, council said they would meet on the matter. Council met in executive session for more than an hour regarding the contracts during their Sept. 13 regular meeting. Later that week, Grandey told The Highland County Press that the townships authorized him to increase that offer to 12 percent. The city has not yet responded or held public discussion regarding the matter since the Aug. 25 committee meeting. The finance committee met Sept. 30 in executive session to discuss the townships, but did not comment publicly afterward. The matter was not discussed by council during their October meeting.
The trustees said Monday night that there has been no communication from the city, and they themselves were not aware of the status of the negotiations.
Grandey was not in attendance at the meeting, but told The Highland County Press that, "While no one wants to sever a relationship with the city, I have advised the townships to explore all of their options, and that's what the meeting was. There is nothing official, they are just looking at all of the 'what ifs.'"
Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt told The Highland County Press on Tuesday that "We really haven't come up with anything yet. We're going back to the townships and I've talked with the law director and we're going to contact the prosecutor and we will sit down at that time whenever we get everyone's schedules together."
When asked by the HCP if that meant the city was rejecting the township's 12-percent counter-offer, Holt said, "I'm saying that we are continuing to negotiate contracts, which are good for this year. What we are negotiating for is 2011."
Holt said the contracts expire Dec. 31.
Grove said that he has tried to contact city representatives and not received a response.
"Does anybody have any more ideas what we going to do if they don't take us?" Grove asked.
Paint Township representatives discussed possibly joining the Paint Creek Joint Fire and Ambulance District out of Greenfield. They said that when the district formed last year, an offer to join had been extended, but they declined because they were satisfied with their service with Hillsboro.
"I've been told the Hillsboro fire department wants to get out of the emergency run business to the townships," Grove said.
John McLaughlin, a Liberty Township trustee, said that he was under the impression that if Hillsboro stopped making runs to the townships they would have to lay off members from the current fire staff.
"The city's broke, and they have to come up with money some way," McLaughlin said. "So they're coming after us. I don't know why they don't go after the residents of the city."
Johnson told the townships' leaders about the process he went through in 1996 when the New Vienna Fire Department, which covered the village, part of Wayne and Green Townships in Clinton County and Penn and Union Townships in Highland County, formed the district.
There is a 4.3-mill levy that the voters passed for the fire coverage, he said, which brings in approximately $220,000. Their department has one full-time office clerk, who also does runs with the life squad, and two part-time employees. The rest of the department is comprised of volunteers, who receive $10 an hour while they are on runs.
When asked if they had trouble keeping enough volunteers to staff the departments, Johnson said that sometimes having a few good people to consistently go on runs is all you need to staff the department. He said that some years they struggle to get volunteers, and others years there are plenty of people. There is a lot of training involved for volunteers, and the time commitment is something that can be hard to keep up with while holding down a full-time job, some of the other trustees said.
In addition to the funds they receive from the levy, the district also does soft billing for fire runs. However, Johnson said that they do not collect a significant portion of what they bill out.
"The money is real nice to have when you get it, but I would advise you to make your budget so you could stay in business even if you didn't have it," Johnson said.
The village of New Vienna sold the district their equipment for $1, and new trucks and equipment, and a new building constructed in 2003, came from donations from the community and the levy. Besides some small equipment grants, he said they had no grant funding in creating the department.
"The voters have never turned us down for anything we've asked for," Johnson said. "But we've never asked them for anything they should have turned us down on, either."
Carnes said that he felt that $220,000 would not be enough if the seven townships decided to form a district. With the distance the proposed district would have to cover, it would limit the number of volunteers available, because they must be located within five minutes of the fire station.
"I think we would have to have full-time firefighters," Carnes said.
It was discussed if multiple stations would be needed, and where they could possibly be located, including in the Rocky Fork Lake area.
Johnson advised the group to get a solid count on who the participants would be in the district, and who the tax base would be, and if the tax base could support it.
"They used to say fires were put out with water," Johnson said. "Now they're put out with money."
When asked if the proposed district would ask the city of Hillsboro to join, Paint Township trustee Randy Mustard said that he didn't want to play games, and he would vote to include them if they wanted to join. Additionally, he said that they would never deny mutual aid if Hillsboro needed it, and he was sure they would say the same thing.
Carnes asked how many people were seriously interested in moving forward with the idea of creating a district. Several people spoke up that they had concerns, particularly regarding if enough volunteer staff would be available. However, they said that don't want to be in a position where they have to negotiate with the city every single year.
Johnson was asked if thought that eventually, whatever the outcomes of the negotiations, if he thought the townships would have to form a district. Johnson said that with population growth, it seemed like something that would be inevitable.
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