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EMA director briefs trustees; township to pay 55¢ per resident ($35,423.30) annual contribution
Summary
Butler County EMA director outlined county emergency services, exercises, mutual aid and mitigation work and noted a per‑capita funding model; trustees approved the township's annual contribution of $35,423.30 at the March 24 meeting.
Butler County Emergency Management Agency director (introduced to the board as Jim Bolin) described how the county EMA partners with local jurisdictions on preparedness, exercises, hazardous materials planning, resource coordination and recovery.
Bolin said Butler County’s cooperative approach supports specialized teams, including the county’s type‑1 hazmat team and other technical rescue assets, and stressed that mitigation is cost‑effective: “For every $1 that we spend on hazard mitigation, we save $6 in response and recovery,” he told the trustees.
Bolin also explained the EMA membership funding model; each member jurisdiction pays a per‑capita rate of 55¢, which was read into the requisitions as an item totaling $35,423.30 for West Chester Township in 2026. Trustees asked whether the EMA charges commercial entities for mitigation work and how often the EMA receives incident requests; Bolin said the agency generally provides support to jurisdictions without charge but can pursue cost recovery in hazardous releases when appropriate, and that his office now fields roughly three to five incident calls per week.
The board approved the EMA contribution as part of the requisition approvals that evening.
