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Liberty trustees won’t even study fire department merger with Girard

LIBERTY — The merger of the Liberty and Girard fire departments barely gained momentum before it was abandoned Wednesday following a public hearing attended by more than 100 residents and firefighters from both communities.

Liberty trustees decided not to proceed with a feasibility study on forming a joint fire district after the majority of those at the meeting spoke against the idea.

”We had thought having the study done and seeing the pros and cons of a joint fire district could make it better for both communities,” Trustee Chairman Stan Nudell said. ”There doesn’t appear to be an interest. What we are hearing is Girard wants to stay on their own and Liberty wants to stay on their own.”

Nudell said trustees had hoped a merger would help lower costs for both communities.

Liberty resident Anna Dennison was among many who spoke against merging.

”I have been living in this township since I was 10 years old. I do not want to merge with anyone else. This is my township and I ain’t sharing it with nobody,” Dennison said, eliciting to a round of applause from those in attendance.

Joe Christopher of Girard said he felt the situation looked like Liberty wanted Girard ”to bail you out,” which trustees said is not the case.

Trustee Jodi Stoyak said there are 12,000 residents in Liberty and 10,000 in Girard and a study would have at least shown the advantages and disadvantages of merging.

”We just wanted to have a study to see the positives and negatives of joining together,” she said.

Officials said the study could have shown if consolidating would reduce taxes for residents.

Justin Graham, union president for the Liberty Fire Department, said he understands the need to help save taxpayers money.

Liberty Fire Lt. Chris Olson, Graham and other firefighters from both communities expressed concern about having only one central fire station for both communities, which they said would have increased response time by as much as 15 minutes in some cases.

Instead, Graham recommended having a mutual aid agreement between Liberty and Girard.

David “Chip” Comstock, an attorney and fire chief of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District in Poland, explained the process for forming a joint district.

”The purpose for forming a joint district is for providing better fire and EMS protection for the residents in that district. It is not for saving money, but for doing what is in the best interest for fire protection,” he said.

Nudell said two fire stations in Liberty are not adequate, noting the Belmont Avenue station is closed for sewage problems. He also said it is expensive to keep up with equipment needs.

boupland@tribtoday.com

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