Liberty-Girard fire services merger talks need state help

When Gov. John Kasich visited the Mahoning Valley a week ago, he took the opportunity to repeat what has become his mantra since he signed Ohio’s two-year budget in July: Local governments must adopt new, cost-saving measures, and if they do, there will be state dollars to assist them.

It is noteworthy that the Republican governor’s presence Tuesday at the ground-breaking for the $28 million Anderson-Dubose Distribution Center in Lordstown came a day after The Vindicator published a story headlined “Liberty pushes merger of fire services.” While the merger plan has been put on the table by Liberty Township, officials in adjacent city of Girard have expressed a willingness to talk about it. But, as in all things government, there is a cost factor to consider, which is where the Kasich administration, along with the GOP-dominated General Assembly, should come in.

After all, the $56 billion biennium budget, which was developed by the Republicans, contains a Local Government Fund that has $630 million less than was anticipated. As a result, governments at all levels are being forced to deal with the reality of dwindling state support. They have two options: Increase revenue or cut spending. Last Tuesday, Boardman residents approved a 3.85-mill additional levy for the police department — after trustees implemented a cost-reduction plan.

In Liberty and Girard, a merger of fire services makes sense because not only are their combined populations smaller than some townships, but because there’s a natural connection between the communities.

Both have fire departments with full-time firefighters, as opposed to part-timers or volunteers, and there already is cooperation between the two.

In Liberty, which has 14 firefighters — the same number as in 1984 — the number of calls serviced went up to 2,012 last year, compared with 1,435 in 2002. As a result of the increase, Liberty sometimes asks Girard for help.

Likewise, Girard, which has 12 full-time firefighters located in one fire station, calls on Liberty, which has 11 paramedic-certified firefighters in two stations.

The overused word “synergy” comes to mind when thinking about fire services in the city and township.

Safer community

Liberty Fire Chief Michael Durkin, who has been at the helm for nine years, says a merger will save money and “definitely make things safer for the community.”

Durkin’s counterpart in Girard, Chief Kenneth Bornemiss, says he and Mayor James Melfi, who has guided the city through state-imposed fiscal emergency, are awaiting the details of the plan from Liberty. The very fact that they have left open the door to such cooperation gives hope to Mahoning Valley residents who have long wanted local governments to pursue consolidation of services.

A key ingredient in the fire-services merger would be the construction of a central fire station, which is where Gov. Kasich can make good on his pledge to financially reward communities that think of new ways of doing things.

Indeed, the governor and the Republican-dominated Legislature should let it be known to the area’s state senators and representatives that some of the $45 million earmarked in the biennium budget to encourage consolidation will be reserved for the Liberty-Girard merger.

The two governments don’t have the money to build a new centralized fire station, but the state does.