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Township trustees outline fire-department improvements and plan 0.8-mill levy
Summary
Miami Township trustees and Yellow Springs officials described a transition to a largely paid fire/EMS model, faster response times and a community paramedic program, and reported they will seek an additional 0.8-mill levy to fund equipment replacement and a capital plan.
Miami Township trustees and the Yellow Springs village council on Monday discussed recent changes to the township's fire and emergency medical services and a planned levy to pay for equipment and capital needs.
Jim Kennel, the township's fire chief, said the department has moved from mainly volunteer staffing toward a combination of full- and part-time personnel and has doubled hiring over the past year. "We've hired 11 people in the last year," he said, adding that the department now has at least three people on duty "over 90% of the time" and paramedics on duty "100% of the time" in recent months.
Ken nel also presented measured response-time data showing the department's average from dispatch to arrival for the first 25 calls he measured a year ago was 6 minutes, 20 seconds; the most recent 25 calls averaged "3 minutes and 30 seconds," which he described as above the national average.
Kennel and trustees said the department has also added a community paramedic who does preventive home visits for frequent users of 911 and provides redundancy on paramedic calls. The program, they said, has helped cover concurrent calls and reduce reliance on mutual aid for some incidents.
Trustees said they have concluded that aging equipment and recent inflation in emergency-vehicle costs require a predictable capital plan. The trustees reported they decided to pursue an additional 0.8-mill levy to create a dedicated capital fund for vehicle replacement, maintenance and building upkeep; officials said the levy would help avoid repeatedly drawing large sums from the operating fund.
A township representative summarized the case for funding this way: equipment costs have risen sharply (where a fire truck once cost in the low hundreds of thousands, prices are now closer to $1 million), and the township has equipment with near-term replacement needs. Trustees said the levy would allow the township to plan for replacements rather than reacting to failures.
Officials emphasized the ongoing reliance on mutual aid in Greene County, explained the limits that create longer response times for second simultaneous calls, and said any levy and staffing decisions would be framed to preserve service for village residents.
The trustees did not record a formal vote in the joint meeting minutes available in the transcript; the discussion reflected a policy decision to advance a levy proposal and to continue planning and community outreach about the request.
