43
Pact between Springfield Twp. and New Middletown unlikely
NEW SPRINGFIELD
Any cooperation between Springfield Township and the Village of New Middletown on fire and ambulance services appears unlikely after the visit of a township trustee to a village council meeting this week.
Springfield Township Trustee Rick Jones had visited council Monday to ask it there was still any interest in a contract because nothing has happened since a meeting on the issue in August. The township, which has a much larger fire and ambulance service, is willing to provide these services to the village on a contract basis.
But village officials told Jones at that time that they weren’t interested in a continuing contract, but only in a limited contract which would end with formation of a joint fire district. They had also criticized Springfield Township Fire Chief Matt Gebhardt for seeming to favor a joint district, then changing his mind when the public meeting was held in August.
When Springfield Township trustees met Wednesday, Gebhart responded that he, township EMS Capt. Karen Philibin and Assistant Chief Scott Rice changed their minds because the village began to change the terms when it was time to finalize the contract. “There was a problem at the end; they weren’t truthful at that point,” he said.
Former Springfield Township Trustee Lee Kohler also was at Wednesday’s trustee meeting and criticized Jones for “wasting your time” in New Middletown. He said the village voluntarily separated in 1972 from a fire department with the township. He said township voters should vote on whether they want a joint district and added if a such a district were formed without a vote, he would try to find enough township residents to help him “get an injunction in common pleas court. “Kohler objected to joining “one of the best fire departments in Mahoning County” with a smaller department and said that “for every 50 cents they put in, we will put $99.50 in.”
Trustee Robert Orr commented that he had second thoughts about a district when he saw that the proposed agreement did not reflect the disparity in size between the township and village and only provided the township with one more representative than the village on the governing board. Jones said he had gone to village council “to see where they stood,” and thought he was doing the right thing.
On a related issue, Gebhardt remained adamant that unless specifically directed by the village to stop the practice, Springfield EMS will continue to answer any ambulance call it gets from New Middletown.
“I instructed our dispatchers that if someone calls for help in the village, to alert us. We’re not going to deny them help,” he said. Philibin agreed, stating after the meeting that the township EMS will not risk loss of a life by turning down calls coming from inside village limits.