PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES … Jefferson Township Trustees held their regular meeting on Monday, June 1, discussing financial concerns regarding the township’s fire protection mutual aid contract with the Village of Montpelier.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Jefferson Township Trustees held their regular meeting on Monday, June 1, with trustees Austin Poynter, Scott Oberlin and Brian Batterson in attendance. Fiscal Officer Linda Beck was also present.
Discussion centered around the adjustment of the current fire protection contract with the Village of Montpelier Fire Department to reduce costs.
Poynter said the fire contract with Montpelier for one year is more than double the cost of the City of Bryan, Brady Township and Madison Township/Kunkle Fire Departments combined.
Oberlin added that Montpelier has eaten up nearly the entire township’s fire levy fund with the purchase of a new ladder fire truck.
“They (Montpelier) want us to keep paying to fund their department, and they’re asking us (township) to give them more money,” said Oberlin.
As part of the mutual aid fire contract agreements with the City of Bryan, Brady Township, Montpelier and Madison Township/Kunkle fire departments, Poynter said the township pays a portion of their expenditures.
“If they make a decision to get fire trucks and such, that will increase all the expenditures which then increases our contract price and we have no say over it,” said Poynter.
Earlier this year, Poynter attended a Montpelier Village Council meeting and was informed the township’s fire levy was too old and needed to be revised.
“We’re talking about a fire contract that has been in the works for thirty years,” he noted.
Batterson pointed out that the township is now at a maxed limit and can’t ask for more levy money. The township currently has $26,000 in its fire levy fund.
“We can, but it has to be taken from our general fund,” added Batterson. “We are just going to be paying from the general fund and it’s for the service we like, but we just can’t afford it.”
Oberlin noted that with all these different township and school levies, people have seen enough.
“If we put it up for a replacement, it might not go through, and we lose everything. Not only we’ll lose the renewal, but we lose the replacement because people are done paying for it.
“We can’t just go out there and expect our citizens of the township to fund their protection,” Oberlin said.
The trustees discussed the Selwyn Drive paving project in which the township had recently applied for an Ohio Transportation Economic Development Grant for $550,000.
With the expansion of Wieland Chase, LLC, it allowed the township to qualify for the grant money. The township is hoping the grant money will be approved this month.
If the grant is approved, Selwyn Drive will then be repaved from the State Route 15 intersection all the way to County Road 15 covering 1.2 miles.
This will include Wieland Chase, LLC and 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics as both industries are located on Selwyn Drive.
Trustees also discussed the drainage situation at the corner of County Roads 16 and M.
Poynter said there was an area that was low and had stayed flooded during a recent torrential rainfall that resulted in the closure of the road for about a month. It was due to a clogged tile creating a little pond.
“Thankfully it wasn’t in the middle of the road, but at an intersection, so it wasn’t as dangerous, but still it was a thorn in our side and it’s a big job,” said Poynter.
He added that the township now must hire someone to install a bigger tile to handle that type of water.
