BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
LEBANON -- City council has postponed a decision on a funding issue for the fire department, with members saying they need more time to study the matter.
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THE PROPOSALS
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• The 3-mill proposal would allow essentially the current level of service: a full-time chief and part-time emergency medical technicians on duty during the daytime.
• A 4.5-mill levy would provide part-time EMS staffing around the clock and part-time fire crews from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. It would also add a full-time captain.
• The 6-mill levy would pay for an average of two full-time firefighters - paramedics on-duty around the clock, a full-time captain and additional part-time staffing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.
• The 10-mill levy would mean an average of up to 10 full-time firefighters - paramedics and a full-time chief, captain and secretary. |
A joint meeting of council's Safety and Finance committees is planned for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24 in council chambers to discuss what issue to put before voters in November.
Council members, who have been reviewing different millages for a fire levy, said they have questions about the issue and wanted more time to review it.
A levy would help the fire and emergency medical services department fill critical staffing shortages and provide new equipment.
"I want to see success with this," council member Amy Brewer said.
Though the deadline for filing issues for the November ballot is Aug. 20, Lebanon's charter gives it until Sept. 15 to file.
At the Warren County Board of Elections, officials said mailing of Lebanon's absentee ballots could be delayed if council waits too long to file a fire levy for November.
"I was very surprised when I heard about this," said Bev Moore, the board's director, who confirmed that Lebanon's charter takes precedence in this case. "It doesn't make life easier for me." The department has operated on a 3-mill levy since 1983, which generated $476,000 this year. But the department had to use about $70,000 from its reserve fund to meet its $546,000 budget.
A levy, if approved by voters, could move the department from primarily a volunteer entity to a combined operation with full-time and volunteer personnel.
Fire Chief Michael Hannigan is the department's only full-time employee, and he relies on about 40 volunteer firefighters who are paid per call. That situation is especially troublesome during the day when the volunteers are at their regular jobs.
The chief said the staffing shortages have been an evolving problem.
"There have been times, on mutual aid calls, that we didn't get out (of the station)," he said. "We're dependent on volunteer firefighters all the time."
For emergency medical services, the department has an average of two part-time emergency medical technicians (EMTs) on station from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Round-the-clock staffing would cut the department's response time at night in half, from eight minutes to four, Chief Hannigan said.
The review of upgrading the fire department comes amid this community's substantial growth. Lebanon's population is estimated at 13,700, a nearly 31 percent increase since 1990.
The department responded to 1,805 runs in 1997, up from 1,627 in 1996, the chief said. The bulk of the runs are emergency medical calls.
Chief Hannigan last week outlined four levy options to council's Safety Committee. The proposals range from maintaining the status quo to a complete transformation of the department. Cost to the owner of a $100,000 house ranges from about $105 per year for a 3-mill levy to $350 annually for a 10-mill levy.
Each of the plans includes some big-ticket items, such as two new ambulances and a fire engine, and buying land for a second fire station.
Personnel costs are the main difference in the plans.
"Ultimately, you would like the 10 (mills), but you have to be realistic," said the chief. "Either of the two middle options will work."
