No action was taken following an executive session to discuss the potential purchase of an aerial ladder truck, but Jerome Township Trustee Chair Megan Sloat said she feels officials are now in a better position.
“I think that went really, really well,” Sloat said following the nearly two-hour executive session.
The board held a special meeting Monday at the fire department, during which the executive session was held to discuss the purchase of property for public purposes and the employment of a public employee.
When the trustees adjourned for the executive session, the board left the room with Fiscal Officer Robert Caldwell, Fire Chief Douglas Stewart and the three Jerome Township Division of Fire Battalion Chiefs, Justin French, Jamie Adams and Eric Billingsley.
In an interview Tuesday morning, Sloat declined to say if all individuals were present during the entirety of the executive session.
Sloat noted that Ohio Revised Code allows the board to adjourn into executive session to discuss the purchase of property.
While previous trustees meetings have included public discussion of the potential purchase of an aerial ladder truck, Sloat said she felt executive session would allow for a “more productive conversation.”
“At this point in the process, it was just going to be a better conversation in executive session,” she said Tuesday morning.
At the special meeting, once the executive session was adjourned, Sloat said the trustees will discuss next steps at their regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 4.
Sloat also said Tuesday morning she realizes the conversation surrounding the potential purchase of an aerial ladder truck is “very important” to many community members.
Sloat said her goal at this point is to continue to gather information until she feels she can make “the right decision for the community and for the fire division.”
The trustees did, though, unanimously approve a motion not to fill the vacant public information officer/administrative assistant position for the fire department “at this time.”
Sloat, who made the motion, presented it “as a cost-saving measure.”
Trustee Barry Adler reiterated that he understood the motion to be a delay in hiring rather than a choice to more permanently leave the position unfilled. Sloat and Trustee Wezlynn Davis agreed.
Sloat explained Tuesday morning that Sydney Herbert, who previously acted in the vacant position, split her time acting as an administrative assistant for the fire department and the township. Sloat said Herbert spent three days each week at the fire station and two in the township hall.
The trustee chair said she anticipates the responsibilities that were handled by Herbert will be split between other township employees until the position is filled, as Sloat said she believes it was done before the creation of the separate position.