VIENNA — The township’s fire chief heard a resident’s concern about not having an emergency call picked up.

As part of a workshop session ahead of Monday’s regular meeting, Harlan Carter, a resident, asked fire Chief Gus Birch how the township’s 911 services were coming along, noting that he had a medical emergency around mid-September, but no one picked up the phone when 911 was called.

Carter said he was fortunate to come back around and get himself to an emergency room, noting later on that his wife was calling and there was no answer after “quite a period of time.”

Birch said Trumbull County 911 is understaffed, just like other emergency services in the state.

“When you call 911, it should ring until somebody answers it; it’ll roll over to the next person,” Birch said.

Birch said he would ask the county’s 911 director to see what the issue was.

Carter asked if it would be appropriate to call the fire department directly in a similar case, such as his, if no dispatchers were available to receive a call.

“You can, but there’s no guarantee there’s going to be anybody there — because right now, we’re not staffed 24/7; we’re just kind of hit and miss when we have people to work,” Birch said.

“If you dial 911, there’s no reason why the phone shouldn’t have been answered.”

Birch noted that his son, Travis, who was also in attendance at Monday’s meeting, used to work as a dispatcher. Travis said calls typically roll over to other call centers, like Niles or Lordstown.

“A high weather event, sometimes you get 12 911 lines that come in, that more than 12 people are calling at that second, it might roll over to another agency,” Travis said.

In other business, the board:

• Appointed Sharon Carlson as the township’s new assistant fiscal officer, replacing Louise Roland at a rate of $50 an hour in a subcontractor role. Fiscal Officer Heidi Brown said Carlson, a former Huntington Bank employee, brings experience from Johnston Township, where she’s been the fiscal officer for eight years.

• Authorized Brown to make supplemental and reallocation appropriations when necessary.

• Authorized Brown to make a transfer when funds are needed.

• Approved making a $65,000 payment to OTARMA for liability insurance.