COLUMBIANA COUNTY Salem council plans to vote on pact to create fire district

The issue of a joint fire district is still slated for the general election ballot.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Council members said they are willing to work with the fire department to save money.
Neither side, however, offered any ideas Tuesday on how to ease the city's tight budget.
Council also plans to meet as a committee at 4 p.m. Oct. 4 to vote to officially bring a proposed contract before itself to create a fire district with Perry Township.
The city department has 16 members, who city officials have said could apply for jobs with the fire district.
But when firefighters and their supporters quizzed council on the pact effects, Councilman Steven Andres, one of the city's negotiators with Perry Township, said, "It's not over yet."
Firefighters contended the city had not asked for concessions, but council members said they did in talks two years ago.
Losing money
Andres, a veteran union member and official, said the goal was not busting the firefighters' union but that "the city is running out of money."
After questions about which side should ask to reopen contract talks, Law Director C. Brooke Zellers said either side could.
Councilwoman Alma Apicella said, "Evidently, we're not hearing, and I don't think the fire department is listening. I think we're both way off course."
Councilwoman Mary Lou Popa said city officials were looking at all alternatives.
Fire-department supporters had questioned whether the move would result in slower response time and jeopardize public safety.
Council President David A. Ventresco said, "Nobody wants to have a catastrophe. Nobody wants to see people lose their jobs."
After the meeting, Ventresco said he would ask Mark Sanders, president of the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters to return to the city. Sanders had attended an earlier council meeting where the pact was debated.
Discussing how to save
Ventresco said he and Michael Burns, the head of the city's firefighters union, would discuss cost-saving measures and ways the department could generate revenue with Sanders.
Council members also indicated that voters will have their say Nov. 2. Past and present firefighters circulated petitions that will be on the ballot. Voters will decide if any plans to abolish the fire department or join a fire district will have to go to a public vote.
But Andres said whether the contract will come out of committee as emergency measure -- which could allow a council vote before the election -- is up to councilwoman Nancy Cope. She chairs council when it meets as a committee.
Cope said that determination will be left up to lawyers who will draft the pact in ordinance form.
Greg Oesch, the head of council's traffic and safety committee, said he also was asking for changes in a council resolution that made the police department the first responders to medical emergencies instead of the fire department.
The idea is to return first response to the fire department with limits on the number of men and trucks. The response was switched after public complaints about a large response to minor medical calls.
Stephanie Ritchie, a fire department supporter, told council she had asked officials in writing for notes they compiled during the contract negotiation. Ritchie said she asked for the records Aug. 25 under Ohio's public records law and received no response. Zellers told city officials Tuesday to comply with her request.
wilkinson@vindy.com