SPRINGFIELD TWP. Trustees to meet on hiring fire chief

A trustee doesn't like the new voice-mail setup.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW SPRINGFIELD -- A special meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the township administration building to discuss hiring a new fire chief.
Springfield Township Trustee Chairman Lee Kohler said at Wednesday's trustees meeting that no action will be taken at the special meeting, which will consist of personnel discussions in executive session.
He said it is possible that no one will be hired before Fire Chief Frank Molnar's retirement Dec. 31 and that an interim chief may have to be appointed until a new chief is hired.
Letters to applicants
Trustees will send letters to the 15 applicants for the job, informing them they have the right to read the resumes of all applicants competing for the post. Kohler said this was not done in the past and he was informed that it is required by state law.
Also Wednesday, Kohler complained about at new voice mail system installed about a month ago in township offices. He said despite the voice mail, people who want to reach him should call him at home as they always have because he does not check his voice mail daily.
He said that he also objects to the fact that the township clerk's extension is the last listed in the message, stating that in most places, the clerk is listed first.
He also objected to a memo circulated among employees instructing them to not answer the phone if it rings after hours when they are in the building. He said he would like employees to pick up the phone in case it is an emergency. If it is not, he said, the caller can call back and leave a voice mail message.
Finally, Kohler said he thinks the voice giving instructions in the message should be "an outside voice" because a familiar voice on the recording is too political. The voice on the recording is Springfield Township Trustee Shirley Heck.
Other business
In other business, EMS Chief Karen Philibin reported that the 2002-2003 state grant has been entirely spent on equipment and training including purchase of two new defibrillators, which means there is now one at each of the township's fire stations and the ambulance. Other emergency equipment and training for EMS members were also funded by the grant.
Trustees authorized Thomas Fok and Associates, Youngstown, to try again in the next round of funding to obtain a grant for the Phil Rose cul-de-sac improvements, which were turned down this year.
They received a notice that D & amp;D Mining Co., 3379 E. Garfield Road, will be blasting east of Woodworth Road on the J.K. Energy Co. and M.M. Goist properties for one year, beginning Nov. 20.
Several expenditures were approved, including: $1,000 to Gall's Inc., no address given, for a light bar for a fire truck; $980 to Gobel's Auto Body and Towing, Western Reserve Road , for work on a police cruiser that hit a deer; and $6,145 to J.H. Reiter II Fire Extinguishers, Sharon, for fire equipment.