Salem to ask Perry Township to cancel joint fire district

The city wants to repeal two parts of the agreement that formed a fire district.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- City officials will see if the Perry Township trustees will agree to end their joint fire district.
Councilman Earl A. Schory II said during Tuesday's regular council meeting that he wanted to see if the township would be willing to end at least part of the agreement.
Schory is the head of council's traffic and safety committee, which debated the issue last week.
The city and township had formed the Quaker Community Fire District to replace their departments to save money. The State Employment Relations Board ruled the city could not eliminate the fire department while it had a contract with firefighters. The Quaker district never functioned, though it remains a public board.
Schory said he has turned the issue over to city Law Director C. Brooke Zellers.
Zellers said he would write the trustees to see if they expect the city to honor the first part of the original three-part agreement. Zellers said he had already raised the idea with the trustees. The first part of the agreement would prevent the city from annexing any part of the township for a three-year period. City officials had indicated they can live with that agreement.
The second and third agreements created the actual fire district and affected water and sewer tap-in fees for up to 12 years. Schory wants to see those agreements repealed to prevent any possible legal problems.
If the township takes no action, the first agreement will end Aug. 1, 2008.
Ambulance rotation
In other action, Schory said that a new ordinance for ambulance rotation will stand. The policy affects about 30 emergency calls made each month to city safety forces.
The new rotation includes three private ambulance companies that now are called one after another.
The city last year revamped its the policy after citizens complained about slow response times. Under the old ordinance, each of two companies were called first for every call in a given month.
Schory said the new rotation seems to be working.
"I've heard nothing from anybody," he said.
On a personal note, Schory also thanked the Salem, Perry Township and Damascus firefighters who put out a blaze Saturday at BB Rooners, a sports bar. Schory's office is in the same block.
"That whole block could have disappeared," he said. "Thank you very much to all the firemen and everyone who responded."
wilkinson@vindy.com