FIRE DISTRICT Salem council cancels meeting

Officials can't vote because a proposed contract isn't finished.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- City council has canceled a committee meeting to act on a proposed agreement to create a fire district with Perry Township.
The meeting had been set for this afternoon.
But Nancy Cope, chairwoman of the committee, said the meeting was canceled because the proposed contract has not been completed.
Two members of council and a Perry Township trustee have ironed out the proposed 12-year agreement that would regulate formation of the district as well as regulate annexation and city water access to the township, which are issues that have concerned the trustees.
Changes
Council members have noted that the attorneys writing the final agreement may make language or other changes to the proposal.
Under council rules, the committee must vote to formally take the full issue to council.
Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and Cope said it may be able to set a committee meeting then.
Meeting as a committee, council can recommend the ordinance be approved as an emergency measure. That means council could suspend the required three readings for legislation and vote once to enact it.
If council does that before the Nov. 2 election, it would block two proposed issues backed by firefighters. They have placed two initiative petitions on the ballot that, if approved, would let voters decide at a later election whether the city could eliminate the fire department or join a fire district.
In a story Sunday, The Vindicator quoted two experts on Ohio's open-meeting and public-records laws who said the contract could face a court challenge because the negotiating group may not have followed state law.
Council appointed the two members to negotiate the pact with a trustee and announced that the group would negotiate privately.
Fire department
In other developments, Salem Firefighters Local 282 has said it will sponsor a public forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at the high school. Representatives of fire districts in Ohio will speak.
Michael Burns, the president of the union, said it's an opportunity for residents to learn how districts are formed and how they are funded.
Council wants to abolish the fire department to save money, and members have told firefighters they could apply for jobs with the new board that would oversee the district. The township has a volunteer department.
City firefighters have told council that no firefighter in Ohio has lost a job when a fire district has been formed. The proposed contract discusses equipment owned by the city and township but says nothing about employment.
wilkinson@vindy.com