Newbury FD ‘Ecstatic’ 5.5-Mill Levy Passes
Newbury Township Fire Chief Ken Fagan said he and other members of the volunteer fire department were more than happy the township’s 5.5-mill continuing fire and EMS levy passed Nov. 2.
Newbury Township Fire Chief Ken Fagan said he and other members of the volunteer fire department were more than happy the township’s 5.5-mill continuing fire and EMS levy passed Nov. 2.
It was the township’s first try to fund an addition to the fire station and shift to paid staff and 24/7 staffing.
The levy, which will be collected in January 2022, will cost homeowners and additional $192.50 per year per $100,000 property valuation and yield approximately $1.06 million in 2022, according to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office.
“We’re ecstatic it passed and very grateful to the residents for voting for it,” he said in a phone interview Nov. 4. “We knew it was a lot to ask.”
The levy passed with 774 votes for it and 661 against it, according to final unofficial results of the Geauga County Board of Elections.
The department gave two presentations for residents during the summer explaining what the levy goals were and answering questions. The presentation including plans for staffing, the addition of 7,100 square feet and renovation of the existing 5,000 square feet is on the website www.newburyfire.com.
Fagan said having three firefighters and medics at the station 24/7 will provide much faster call response in the township. Response time is now about nine minutes, according to the presentation. Fagan said the department members are all volunteers and it takes time for individuals to leave work or home, get to the station, gear up and drive to the site of the emergency.
The presentation proposes paying firefighters $16 per hour and, if that person is full time, benefits will apply.
The goal is to start construction in the spring, with staffing set up when the new station can be occupied, Fagan said.
Meanwhile, Newbury Township Fiscal Officer Beverly Sustar will have her hands full.
“There’s a lot of work to be done between now and spring,” she said over the phone Nov. 4.
The fire department is an independent organization that contracts with the township to provide fire and emergency medical service. The levy funds collected in January 2022 will go to the township sometime in February and be put in the fire fund, she said.
Sustar said she will contact the Ohio auditor of state to find out about financing the station and will research the possibility of getting grants and loans from various sources for construction.
Once the financing is in place, the project will go out for bid.
The fire department leadership has been working hard on the concept for about a year with Kent-based design firm DS Architecture, Sustar said.
The estimate on construction was made when building costs were skyrocketing, so the hope is the material prices will come down by the time the contractor that wins the bid breaks ground, she said.
“I plan to work with the Geauga County auditor, prosecutor and auditor of state to do this the right way. It’s going to be some work to get it done,” Sustar said.
The fire department leadership determined the station should be manned 24 hours per day, which would take a minimum of three staff members per shift, according to the presentation. To pay and equip a firefighter and provide benefits for full time, it would cost the department about $90,000 per year. Each part-time employee would cost about $50,000 annually.
Construction would cost about $4 million and the project would be financed by a 5.5-mill additional permanent levy, Fagan said, adding 4.5 mills of the levy would pay for staffing and 1 mill for the building improvements.
He told trustees in July once the building is paid off, that 1 mill would probably no longer be collected.
