SWANTON TOWNSHIP – Swanton Township Trustees approved a two-year contract with the Village of Swanton to provide fire coverage during a special Sept. 22 meeting.
The contract with the village outlines costs of $200,000 for 2027 and $230,000 for 2028, and includes a possible subcontract with the Village of Whitehouse for the southeast portion. Negotiations are underway with Springfield Township to continue covering the northeast portion for $75,000 per year for the next two years.
“This seems to be the cheapest way to get the best coverage. There are other ways, but then we’re right back to having issues with 15- and 16-minute response times,” said Trustee Mike Nowicki. “Calls are continuously going up each year, and the costs are going up each year as well.”
Currently, the township contracts with Springfield Township to cover the northern portion and Whitehouse for the southern. Springfield’s contract expires in 2036, but with Whitehouse’s contract ending on Dec. 31, Trustee Matt Beil began looking at options for fire service as soon as he took office in January.
Bryce Blair, a township resident who serves as safety officer for Whitehouse Fire, asked if one of the options explored included creating its own fire department. That was a consideration, Beil said, but would require much more funding to cover the cost of labor, equipment, insurance and retrofitting buildings and is not considered a feasible option.
“I agree,” Blair said.
A draft map created by Swanton Fire Chief Cuyler Kepling shows three potential fire protection service areas, with Swanton managing the western, central and northern portions (in blue), Springfield Township covering the Toledo Express Airport and northeast portion (in yellow); and another entity – possibly Whitehouse – covering the area south of the airport (in red).
Talks with leaders of the 180th Ohio Air National Guard Fire Department, which has mutual aid agreements with Springfield and other local departments, led Beil to agree that keeping Springfield’s coverage of the airport and surrounding businesses makes the most sense.
“They [the 180th] are a big proponent of keeping Springfield on because of where they are located and the response time. Springfield has most of our commercial buildings and their fire inspector takes care of all that,” Beil explained.
Another factor in keeping Springfield’s coverage of the businesses is the Knox boxes that contain keys or digital access codes for first responders to enter businesses after hours in case of an emergency. These are keyed for specific fire departments, and the cost to replace the estimated 45 boxes would be about $600 each, Beil said.
Kepling said he’s only had brainstorming sessions with Whitehouse, and nothing has been formalized. Any contract would contain strict performance requirements to ensure that the level of service is equal to or greater than that provided by the Village of Swanton Fire & Rescue Division, he said.
“This includes, but is not limited to, maintaining comparable department capabilities, meeting or exceeding current response times, and ensuring a high standard of service delivery,” Keplin said via email the following day.
“I am confident that any final arrangement will ultimately benefit the residents of the affected area. However, discussions are ongoing, and no final decisions have been made at this time. Residents who may be affected by any changes will be notified of their fire and EMS service provider as soon as practical once agreements have been finalized.”
Trustees approved the contract with Swanton, keeping in mind that both Springfield Township and Whitehouse – if chosen – will need to get approval from their governing boards before contracts can be signed.
“The shared goal of all parties involved is to provide the residents of Swanton Township with the highest possible level of fire and EMS service while ensuring the quickest and most effective emergency response times achievable,” Kepling said.
An existing levy brings in $187,000 a year, and $135,000 is currently used for the fire contracts with Springfield Township and Whitehouse, plus the $25,000 a year estimated cost to pay for county dispatching services. The overage is going into a budget bank that has a balance of $580,000. But with anticipated costs of $275,000 the first year and $350,000 in 2028, Beil said that overage will be nearly used up by mid-2029.
“We need to decide next year if we need a levy,” Beil said, explaining that in talking to the fire chiefs, the estimated cost beginning in 2029 will be “north of $500,000” due to rising costs. “We don’t need the money now but we won’t have enough in the reserves to fund even half of 2029.”
Any levy discussions will be publicly announced and held months ahead of any decision to put a levy on the ballot, Nowicki said. The next year will give the township time to see how the contracts and funding are working before in order to estimate needs for what will likely be a replacement levy.
During the meeting, the board also did a preliminary review of proposed changes to the zoning fee schedule, providing feedback for Zoning Inspector Ben Mooney to make further modifications.
