Future of Craig Beach volunteer fire unit in doubt

CRAIG BEACH — The future of the Craig Beach Volunteer Fire Department is uncertain now that the village council has severed ties with it.

As of January, the village will no longer have a contract with the CBVFD, a private entity, said fiscal officer Lori Becker.

Council voted Dec. 10 to instead contract with Milton Township for fire protection, she said.

The primary reason, she said, was a lack of accountability on the part of the CBVFD. “We couldn’t get records from them.”

Now, the volunteer fire department is hoping that Milton Township will agree to enter a joint fire district with it, said Richard Fruit, a CBVFD trustee. A fire district becomes its own entity.

Fire Chief Kevin Felger presented documents on forming a fire district to the township trustees last week, Fruit said.

If that doesn’t happen, however, the department might run out of options, said Chip Comstock, a lawyer who specializes in legal issues concerning fire departments.

It could continue to exist as an association, though not a service organization, said Comstock, who prepared the documents that Felger presented to Milton Township.

The department would quickly run out of money without a service contract, however, he pointed out, adding that he doesn’t see much incentive for Milton or Jackson townships to use the CBVFD.

The department would need money at least for insurance and maintenance on equipment and its station, he said.

And what about its assets, which include the station on Grandview Road and three fire trucks?

They belong to the department, he said, even though they were bought with Craig Beach taxpayers’ money and government grants.

If the department dissolved, money from the sale of assets would have to be used for charitable purposes since the department is nonprofit, Comstock added.

But, he said, the department shouldn’t be hasty.

“I think it’s premature for the fire department to do anything with respect to any assets until all parties have the opportunity to review the possibility of a joint fire district,” said Comstock, who is chief of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District in Poland, which serves the village of Poland and Poland Township. He also has counseled other communities in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in the formation of districts.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com