THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF NORTHFIELD CENTER TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE PAUL G. BUESCHER
~ KEEPING NCT RESIDENTS INFORMED SINCE 2005 ~
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#452 MONDAY APRIL 11, 2016
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ON THE FIRE DISTRICT ISSUE
Many questions have been asked about the Fire District situation and no doubt, many more will come to light. In the meantime, I put together some of the questions that you asked and have provided the best answers that I came up with. I hope this helps you better understand the situation that we’ve been put into and the challenges, particularly the time constraints, that we are facing.
What are the other options that you guys are looking into?
Assuming that Sagamore Hills does not accept our counter proposal, our other options in addition to resurrecting our own Fire Dept. are to contract with Northfield Village or Macedonia. At this point in time, contracting is the only real option because neither the Village or City can form an actual Fire District without first changing their charters, which would require a vote of the people. Contracting with either one will still require an additional levy of perhaps around 1 to 2-mills to bring the total millage to 3 or 4.
What exactly is a fire district? I thought that this is what Macedonia is offering to everyone?
A Fire District is NOT what Macedonia is offering to Sagamore, Northfield Village or our Township. They have proposed CONTRACTED services. An area-wide true Fire District would consist of all of our communities with elected representatives serving on the Board and running the District with EQUAL administration, management and fiscal responsibility. The Fire District would also be its own taxing authority just like the Schools. It would also have a generic name like “The Nordonia Hills Fire District” or some other similar name. A true Fire District is true regionalization, which could be a good thing but what is currently floating around is not real regionalization!
Why is there such a rush on all of this? Is there a reason why the vote would be on an August ballot, not a November ballot?
You have to present that first question to the Sagamore Hills Trustees because they are the ones who caused this whole fiasco. And because of their decision we’ve been put in a crunch. If we decide to put the 6-mill levy on the August ballot, then we have to have two meetings and file a bunch of paperwork with the Election Board on or before their May 4th deadline. We have to put this on the August ballot because our Fire District will no longer exist after September so the November ballot would be too late! If the levy fails in August, then we have the needed funds to carry us through November where a smaller levy would be needed to continue with a contracted service with either Northfield Village or Macedonia.
If we keep our own NFC department, wouldn’t we need much less personnel without Sagamore?
The simple answer is NO. There are four firefighter/paramedics at the station 24/7. Sagamore accounted for roughly 65% of the calls that the Fire District handled. And although a resurrected FD would handle 65% less calls, we still would have to maintain the same number of personnel. In fact, according to NFPA rules and guidelines, a fire engine should not respond to a fire without a minimum of four (4) personnel.
If Macedonia has a crew of 2 at a barn somewhere in Sagamore, is that enough to fight a fire or attend to someone having a heart attack? Are two enough to respond?
As stated in the previous question, “NFPA rules and guidelines, a fire engine should not respond to a fire without a minimum of four (4) personnel.” With that in mind, two could not respond, let alone fight a fire. An EMS call for a heart attack might also require at least 3 if CPR was required (2 attending paramedics and a driver).
What are the average response times to both townships?
According to the most recent report, the average response times for our current Fire District to Sagamore Hills is 5.42 minutes and to Northfield Center is 5.48 minutes! These figures include all calls, including those where the responders are asked to stop their lights and sirens before getting close to the scene.
Why doesn’t our township work harder to get more businesses here to offset these tax increases?
Unlike cities and villages, townships by law can NOT collect income taxes and any increases in property taxes on businesses are minimal.
What happens when our fire department gets another call when they’re on one already?
On EMS calls our Department responds with one squad (2 paramedics) and one chase vehicle with another paramedic. Once the responders decide where they will transport the victim and the time that it will take for that transport, they will request a “station fill.” Off duty members will respond to the station and staff it until the squad currently on a run goes back in service. Sometimes, during back to back calls, mutual aid requests are made to surrounding communities. All of our area communities have mutual aid agreements with each other and this agreement has worked very well for many years.
How will all of these options you’re looking into effect response times for our township?
Actually I don’t think any of them would affect OUR response times because under all of the options, our fire station would be staffed at ALL TIMES!
Will the unionizing of our department impact the resurrection costs?
I am not sure. The current union proposal to our Fire District and any negotiations is, in my opinion, basically null and void because the Fire District will not exist in a few months. If the NCFD is resurrected, then the decision to pursue the unionization efforts will be up to the firefighters and paramedics. Only then would we have to cross that bridge.
Where will all the money that Macedonia is asking for go towards?
Macedonia’s offer to us is for $375,000 per year. The offer to Sagamore Hills is $750,000 per year and to Northfield Village is reportedly $600,000 per year. ALL of that money is for personnel. All of us would have to provide and maintain our own equipment and to provide housing for that equipment and personnel.
Exactly what is the budget for the Fire District?
The Fire District budget for 2015, according to FD records, was $968,234.63.
I received a flier from Sagamore Trustees and want to know why their 5mil levy costs only $325 for a $300K home and your proposed 6mil would cost $630 for the same home?
According to our research, a 5 mil levy on a $300,000 home would cost around $525.00 (not $325) a year. Apparently, the Sagamore Trustees’ distributed incorrect information! We learned that after all their fliers were hand distributed and then posted on the NordoniaHills.news website, their error was discovered and they revised their figures! Was this deliberately done or was it a simple mistake? Ask them or decide for yourself.
The Newsleader recently reported that Macedonia would absorb all of our firefighters and also hire 6 full-timers’ to cover Sagamore Hills. How can this be done and still save money?
That article appeared in the March 30th edition. Not being privy to the discussions involving this personnel matter I cannot offer a concrete answer. However, the 6 additional full time firefighters would cost around $100,000 (salary & benefits) each for a total of $600,000. Add to that the figure of $416,000 that, according to Sagamore’s own revised figures, was their share of payroll costs for our District’s 30 firefighters. That’s a total of $1,016,000.00! Absorbing all of our 30 firefighters AND hiring 6 full timers does not make sense to me based purely on the math. But the article did state that this was for Sagamore Hills!
Thank you,
Paul G. Buescher
Northfield Center Twp. Trustee Vice-Chairman
Northfield Center-Sagamore Hills Fire Dist. Board
330-467-9451
TrusteeBuescher@aol.com
www.northfieldcenter.com
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