Thompson, Montville Fire Depts. Explore Joint District
With Thompson and Montville townships being longtime neighbors whose children have gone to the same school district for many years, they’re used to sharing more than a cup of sugar with each other.
With Thompson and Montville townships being longtime neighbors whose children have gone to the same school district for many years, they’re used to sharing more than a cup of sugar with each other.
So it might not seem like a stretch for their respective fire departments to explore the possibility of forming one fire district to serve both communities.
A public meeting is slated for Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Ledgemont Elementary School building on Burrows Road to discuss the topic.
Thompson Township Assistant Fire Chief Dorothy Battles is seeking input from both residents and businesses in Thompson and Montville townships.
“Neither Thompson nor Montville has the tax base to support full time fire departments,” she said. “A lack of staffing has made me look at this. There has been a 34% decline in volunteer firefighters in Ohio over the last 10 years and a 67% decline nationwide.”
The proposed fire district includes looking into acquiring all or part of the Ledgemont Elementary School building and/or property to house the joint district.
The new Partners in Rural Innovative Models in Education, or PRIME, initiative — a K-12 Berkshire Schools educational facility on the Kent State University – Geauga campus — will render current Berkshire and Ledgemont buildings obsolete to the district, said Thompson Township Trustee Koko Leffel.
Because the current facilities are on the Thompson side of Burrows Road, these can be transferred to the community at no charge. However, Thompson’s reluctance is the cost of renovation, repairs and upkeep for such a property transfer, said Leffel.
Youngstown area attorney David Comstock will be attending the Aug. 13 meeting. He has assisted five communities within the past year in formulating joint fire districts.
Battles said his presentation, expertise and advice will give both communities facts on how a district is formed and what to expect during the process.
Battles is taking a lead role in the fire district project to initiate a change for the future. She said she is currently a student of the Ohio Fire Executive leadership program and she wants to create an improved, more cost effective fire district — which residents have touted as a good plan for years.
Preliminary discussion indicated trustees of both communities, as well as fire personnel in both townships are in favor of exploring a joint fire district, Battles said.
The Ledgemont Elementary School property at the corner of Burrows and Dewey roads is centrally located to both communities.
Battles said if everyone is in agreement with a joint plan, it could be formed within a year.
