Jerome Township officials are searching for a way to successfully fund the fire department by opening discussions with residents, beginning with a special trustees meeting Tuesday.
Jerome Township Division of Fire Chief Douglas Stewart asked the Board of Trustees to host a meeting to solicit resident feedback following the failure of a five-year, 5.5. mill levy on the November 2019 ballot and a five-year, 3.5 mill levy during the March election.
Stewart told dozens of residents in attendance – in-person and watching online – that increased funding is necessary due to excessive response times and inadequate staffing and equipment.
“We strive to make Jerome Township one of the safest places to live,” but “funding has not been able to keep pace with the demand for service,” Stewart said.
In the past five weeks, Stewart said the fire department has responded to four structure fires. He said each incident required the assistance of mutual aid from neighboring departments, while one was handled entirely by others.
Likewise, Stewart said it is not uncommon for responders to be “tied up for hours” by incidents on U.S. 33 and U.S. 42, leaving them with limited staff for emergencies.
He said the location of the only current fire station also leads to response times exceeding eight to 10 minutes in certain parts of Jerome Township.
On Thanksgiving 2019, Stewart said the fire department received a call for a non-breathing child in Jerome Village. He said the drive time, excluding dispatch, was between eight and nine minutes. The child survived and is well today because the mother was able to perform CPR before the arrival of medics.
Trustee Megan Sloat said the long response times specifically worry her.
When her daughter was a toddler, she said she called 911 for help after an accident.
“I remember being on the phone with 911 and thinking, ‘When are they coming?’ and that’s the worst feeling in the world,” she said.
Stewart said the department’s lack of equipment is also a concern.
Last month, he said Jerome Township firefighters conducted a water rescue to save a family of five, each clinging to trees. Stewart said township responders did not have a boat or water rescue equipment and had to rely on mutual aid to assist in the rescue.
Stewart said he knows and understands that residents don’t want to pay more taxes, but funding is so limited that a levy is necessary.
The department is currently funded by a 1991 continual levy that now collects at 0.66 mills, a 1992 continual levy that collects at 2.87 mills and a 2011 levy collecting at 2.095 mills.
Fiscal Officer Robert Caldwell said township officials put themselves in a difficult position by choosing not to increase levy funding for an extended period of time.
He said most comparable fire departments operate on about 12 mills, while the Jerome Township Division of Fire is effectively operating on about 5.6 mills.
“We did that by not asking taxpayers for money… by waiting until it broke down before we bought it,” he said.
Bob Chapman, a resident of McKitrick Road, said, “I’m amazed you operate this department on the money you’re given.”
He said he feels it is a shame both recent levy attempts failed and asked, “What has caused the dissent?”
Trustee Joe Craft said he feels some residents who are upset with recent growth in the township have expressed disagreement by voting against the levies. He said they may wonder why a second fire station is needed to serve the Jerome Village area.
However, even without a secondary station, Sloat said the fire department is in “desperate need” of additional personnel.
Stewart said a proposed levy on the next ballot wouldn’t be enough to fund a second station. He said it would be used to cover the salaries of nine firefighters, whose positions were created and currently funded 75% by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s SAFER Grant.
Remaining funding would be used for capital improvements, such as equipment and building repairs.
Stewart said the department is striving to meet expectations created by residents in the May 2019 Community Driven Strategic Plan, but the “funding gap” is a barrier to doing so.
“Residents of Jerome Township, you have the best fire department in the world, hands-down… come together, fix these growing pains,” Stewart said.
Trustees continued the meeting to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 16 to allow more residents to voice their opinions and ask questions.