Trustees, Burton Fire, Agree on Contract Increases
Claridon Township Trustees wrestled with fire department contracts during their Dec. 6 meeting, finally agreeing on increasing funding to Burton Fire and Rescue by 5% per year for the next three years.
Claridon Township Trustees wrestled with fire department contracts during their Dec. 6 meeting, finally agreeing on increasing funding to Burton Fire and Rescue by 5% per year for the next three years.
Trustee Jonathan Tiber proposed increases of 5% for 2022 then 2.5% for 2023 and 2024, starting with about $140,500 for 2022.
Firefighter and paramedic Mike Sestak made the argument for the larger increases.
“Our costs have gone up. Our calls have gone up greatly this year,” he said, adding the average call number in the past was about 900 per year, but in 2021, the department is looking at more than 1,100 calls.
He was accompanied by current Chief Brian Wendl, who will be stepping down in January when Sestak becomes chief, a position he has held before.
Sestak said the department has proposed increases with Burton Township Trustees. Burton Township Fiscal Officer Shelly McDermott said the proposal has been sent to the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office, but trustees won’t be acting on a contract until 2022.
Burton Fire and Rescue covers Burton Village, Burton Township and about 40% of Claridon Township, but Sestak said the department doesn’t draw a line — trucks and ambulances answer calls all over Claridon.
“Both departments cover both areas. We go anywhere in Claridon that we are needed. If you call and there’s a fire in the north end of Claridon, Burton (Fire and Rescue) will be there,” he said.
But contract negotiations are difficult, Sestak said.
“It’s very trying when dealing with three entities,” he said, adding many of the members have full-time jobs besides their duties at the fire station.
Trustee Sherman Cooper said he was in favor of 5% per year for three years and Trustee Roger Miller agreed, but Tiber dissented.
“It goes against the grain to go with (that). Our residents have not had 5% pay increases, but inflation is going up. The cost of living is getting worse,” Tiber said.
However, he said the township has enough money to cover three years at 5% a year.
“If not for that, I’d tell the fire departments to tough it out,” he said.
He went over a few minor changes made in the contract the fire department presented and agreed the trustees will sign it at the Dec. 20 meeting. The cost for Claridon for the first contract year will be $133,704, $140,388 for 2023 and $147,408 for 2024, Tiber said.
The contract with Chardon Fire Department, which is technically responsible for coverage of the northern and western 60% of Claridon Township, was made more complicated by the pending secession of Aquilla Village from Claridon Township.
Aquilla Village has about 9% of the township’s population and accounts for about 9% of emergency calls, Tiber said.
The small municipality has petitioned to create Aquilla Township on the same footprint as the village, thereby making it independent of Claridon, but the arrangement will not be finalized until some time next year.
A one-year contract for 2022 between Chardon Fire Department and Claridon, including Aquilla Village, will cost Claridon Township $280,703, slightly less than the 2021 contract, Tiber said.
Separate contracts of $266,881 for 2023 and $280,108 for 2024, show a slight decrease because of the expected secession, he said.
In other business, trustees voted to place signs facing west on Ravenwood and Merritt roads indicating where the township line is. Tiber noted the new Geauga County offices are being built in Claridon Township.
“People assume those offices are in Munson Township,” he said.
