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WEATHERSFIELD -- Trustees accepted $47,704 through the Ohio Department of Commerce's 2024 Multi-Agency Radio Communication System grant program for new radio equipment for the fire department at its meeting Tuesday.
Weathersfield fire Chief Tom Lambert said the MARCS grant will allow the department to acquire five mobile radios and seven portable radios.
"It is going to bring us up to where we need to be," Lambert said.
The new radio equipment will be installed on the township's existing firetrucks, and $720 of the grant funding will be used for the monthly radio subscription fees.
Lambert said the township got a similar grant in the past, but it did not provide enough funding to replace the department's entire system.
Lambert said the new radios are coming at a perfect time for the fire department, which he said has been using outdated equipment for years.
"We got some donated radios from (the Ohio Department of Natural Resources), they are outdated (to the point) where they're just going to shut them off because they're obsolete," Lambert said.
"So they're just coming in at a time where we're able to just sort of plug-and-play."
According to the Department of Commerce's website, the MARCS Grant is available to Ohio fire departments and districts that serve a population of 25,000 or less.
In total, more than $356,639 was awarded to communities in Trumbull County.
Weathersfield received the second most grant dollars in the county.
The highest earning community was the village of McDonald, whose fire
department received $48,502.
Just below Weathersfield was the Greene Township Fire Department, which received $44,923.
In other business, trustees approved a series of roster changes within the Weathersfield Fire Department.
Jackson Iceman is being promoted from probationary firefighter to firefighter.
"Mr. Iceman is following in his father's footsteps, who is a Girard fireman," Lambert said. "He's also just recently been promoted to a full-time firefighter in Youngstown but he still wants to stay on here in Weathersfield."
Trustees also hired Andrew Lesbinsky as a junior firefighter.
"I got to work our first fire with him last night, he did a real good job. I think he'll be around for a little while," Lambert said.
Both Lesbinsky and Iceman will work at Station 40.
Trustees also accepted the resignation of firefighter William Thompson, Jr., effective Feb. 1.
The trustees said Thompson moved out of the response area.
"That's the one problem with our department and being a volunteer department, you have a lot of these guys and girls who take full-time jobs, sometimes it does move them out of the response area," Trustee Chairman Steve Gerberry said.