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WASHINGTONVILLE -- Village Council Monday night tabled a proposed contract with the Green Township Fire Department for fire and EMS services to the entire village.
Council tabled the issue after members of the Leetonia fire and EMS departments said they would like time to discuss a working agreement with the Green Township department that would allow both departments to remain in the village. Currently the village contracts with Leetonia for the Columbiana County portion of the village south of state Route 14 and provides available funding to Green Township for service north of the roadway.
Green Township Fire Chief Todd Baird last month presented an offer from township trustees to cover the entire village for the cost of the Leetonia contract -- $10,000 per year. At that time, he said his department has added a daytime staff from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with someone on station during those hours each day.
Baird said the benefits of contracting with his department include all the residents will be "soft billed," meaning their insurance is billed for the call. Currently, whenever the department has to respond to a south side location, the resident is responsible for the entire bill.
He also said the ISO rating, which determines fire insurance, is lower on the north side, so if the department takes over the entire village, residents on the south side would see lower fire insurance costs.
At Monday's meeting, Leetonia Assistant Fire Chief Jason Hephner said he believes retaining both departments is in the best interest of village residents because if one cannot respond, the other is nearby. He said the Leetonia department is content to remain at the current contract with no additional costs, even though EMS would have to be added to the current contract.
Hephner said he is willing to discuss a partnership with Green Township to ensure the best service possible for Washingtonville residents.
Baird, who last month noted his department had 46 calls in the village, 25 of which were out of its jurisdiction on the south side of town, said the problem is his department is the second or third option when a call is dropped on the south side of town. He said Leetonia does not have the mutual aid alert system equipment to communicate with his department, which Hephner admitted. Hephner did, however, say he is willing to work with Green Township to work on a solution.
Mayor Herman Frank asked council to table the issue while the two departments attempted to work out an agreement.
"We owe [Leetonia] that much for their many years of service," he said.
But Frank also reminded Hephner that council has to think about what is best for the village and its residents.
"We care about getting people to the hospital when they need to go to the hospital, we care about saving their houses, not chimneys and swimming pools," he said. "If [the two departments] want to work something out between each other, that's fine. But if you can't come up with a solution, we have to do what's best for the village."
Frank, who himself was victim to a dropped call by Green Township earlier this year, stressed the need for a single phone number to contact emergency services. Frank's family, who lives on the north side of the village, had to wait half an hour for help after calling 911 and eventually called a private company.
Hephner also suggested the village consider seceding the north side from Green Township and making it one entire village. The village is split in two and relies on Mahoning County services north of state Route 14 because the south side seceded from Salem Township, but the north side did not do the same from Green Township.
khowell@salemnews.net