Snakes in Chesterland
In my opinion, Chester Township Trustees Joe Mazzurco, Ken Radtke, Craig Richter, Fiscal Officer Patricia Jarrett and Township Administrator/Zoning Inspector Mark Purchase have sold our rural community down the river and high density development will be under way shortly.
I was at the May 5, 2022, trustees meeting when discussion came up about the “72 capacity Nursing Facility.” Our “public officials” were extremely quiet and almost frozen in their seats. It seemed as though they were pretending not to know about it, so I emailed them.
In response to my emailed questions about who is planning to build this facility, Ken Radtke wrote, “Biltmore, I think.” Craig Richter emailed, “The attorney was David Mitchell with Brennan, Kaprosy & Mitchell.”
So they did know about it, but sat silent at the public meeting.
And it looks like they hired two pro-development attorneys to provide them with “input and guidance.” This way, when the trustees vote for the proposed zoning changes, they can lay full blame on the attorneys.
Historically, Chester Township was the last area of Geauga County to settle because it was filled with so many dangerous snakes. We still have snakes in Chesterland today, they are all just down at the town hall.
Judy K. Zamlen-Spotts
Chester Township
Part 4: The Final Word on Fire/Rescue Funding
Many rural fire departments are in serious trouble. It has become increasingly difficult to attract volunteers to join and many townships that offer salaries or run pay still have difficulty as the compensation is inadequate.
Townships typically finance their fire/rescue through property taxes and taxpayers are fed up with property taxes that are the “Hobson’s Choice” — we are given no other choice. So where do we go from here?
First of all, we need data on what fire/rescue departments are accomplishing. Good annual reports would certainly help.
Fire/rescue departments generate millions of reports on their responses. Either the state or a local entity needs to do something with them other than to file them away. The data contained in them can tell us citizens what they are accomplishing.
Funding has always been a challenge for fire departments. There are many ways to increase funding for the fire service other than property tax increases. Years ago, when the state income tax was established, promises were made to share this funding with local governments. The income tax has been reduced over the years — a boon to the wealthy, pennies for the average citizen, and less has been going to local governments.
Income tax should be increased and a greater percentage distributed to local townships. One of the Parkman Township trustees has been urging the Geauga County Commissioners to increase sales tax in the county a small amount and use this extra income to fund local fire/rescue in the county. This suggestion has been met with silence from the commissioners. If none of our elected officials are going to show leadership in this area, maybe we voters should replace them with some that will.
There are ways of providing fire/rescue protection other than each township having its own fire department. For example, communities can form a fire district. Parkman, Burton, Middlefield and Troy could form a fire district with one station being situated in the center area where all townships meet. Efficiency and response time would improve, and costs would be reduced.
We also could have a countywide fire/rescue department, as has been done in other areas of the country. Again, this would increase efficiency and reduce costs.
But such a change requires leadership, which has been sorely lacking. So, we muddle on with poor response time, wasteful spending on extravagant equipment and personnel that are not as qualified as they could be.
One past Parkman trustee had stated he never questioned any fire department expenditure. Such an attitude is unacceptable.
Another option is for a township to contract with private companies for rescue service, as Middlefield does with Community Care, the company that provides their ambulance service.
If a township cannot attract enough residents to participate in their fire /rescue department, perhaps they should consider contracting with a neighboring community to provide fire service. I know when I worked in Mentor many years ago, the Mentor Fire Department provided fire/rescue service to the Village of Kirtland Hills for many years.
Residents could be billed for rescue and fire responses — hard billing, not soft billing. Most health insurance such as Medicare typically cover the cost of ambulance service. The Affordable Care Act has made it easier and cheaper for folks to afford health insurance. Many of us feel a single payer system in this country is the way to go and this could pay for ambulance service.
In Parkman Township new fire levies have been put on ballot several times now and all have failed. The number of active fire/rescue personnel has continued to decrease. Often no one is at the station to respond to calls, so a neighboring department is called, thus lengthening the response time.
We have two choices: muddle on with more of the same or change for the better. The choice is yours, but the choice requires leadership and, if state or local elected officials are not leading, we should replace them. As citizens, we need to agitate to get them moving . . . let them know the status quo is unacceptable.
John G. Augustine
Parkman Township
