COLUMBIANA COUNTY Battle over creating fire district heats up

The city says it could back out of a new fire district.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- A fire department leader pointed out potential problems with a new fire district, while a councilman charged that firefighters hadn't helped with Salem's tight budget.
Mayor Larry DeJane said Tuesday at council's first meeting after its August recess, "Well, it looks like we picked up where we left off."
The Quaker Community Fire District pact between Salem and Perry Township is on hold pending a ruling in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court on the firefighters' request for a permanent injunction to block its creation. Under the plan, the Quaker district would replace the city and township fire departments.
Michael Burns, head of the firefighters union, asked if the city could be left with the cost of the district if the township trustees back out.
Councilman Steven Andres, who helped create the agreement, said state funding for the district might be available. Andres said a collapse of the district could leave the city without fire protection. But the proposed district, he said, is "saving the city a ton of money."
Annexation
The fire district agreement also calls for specified properties to be annexed into the city at the end of a 12-year period. Burns said a township official believes that other properties, earlier given an exemption from annexation that adjoin the specified properties, would also have to be annexed.
Law Director Brad Zellers said the city believes those adjoining properties would not have to be annexed.
Burns said council and the trustees "aren't on the same sheet of music."
Council members told Burns that if the district somehow fails to perform, they could get out of it not appropriating money for its operation. Council President David Ventresco added, "You don't want to get into something you can't get out of."
Council also appropriated $50,000 for additional overtime for the fire department this year because the department is short two men. Burns said the city could have saved money by using provisional workers with no benefits.
Andres told Burns that council had raised the idea of using provisional workers in contract talks with the department three years ago. "You laughed us out of the room," Andres said.
In other action, council approved two annexations into the city from Perry Township.
The first was 83 acres of the Brooks Farm farmland on the northeast side of the city, and 1.2 acres on the northwest side of the city.
wilkinson@vindy.com