Boardman contemplates staffing of fire shifts
BOARDMAN
Although township trustees approved a second and final reading of an additional police levy, much of the discussion at Monday’s meeting was about the fire department.
The board unanimously approved the resolution for a 3.85-mill, five-year additional police levy on the Aug. 2 ballot. The measure now will be sent to the Mahoning County Board of Elections for certification.
If approved by voters, the levy is expected to generate about $3.6 million annually designated for the police department, costing the owner of a home valued at $100,000 an estimated $117 annually.
Many residents who attended the trustee meeting expressed concern about fire department staffing levels.
The township administration recently activated a clause in its contract with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1176 that allows minimum staffing levels to decrease. The clause is connected to using overtime to meet the minimum staffing level, which was nine per shift.
Interim Chief Tim Drummond said that currently the three shifts are nine, 10 and nine firefighters. However, using that clause, the township will not call out and pay firefighters overtime to maintain nine firefighters per shift, changing the bare minimum staffing level to six firefighters per shift.
Fred Hoover, who was a Boardman volunteer firefighter for 20 years, said the staffing change is unsafe.
Read more in Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com