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Fire protection plans proceed amid concerns about annexation

The Huntington Township Advisory Board has moved ahead with arrangements to fund payment for fire protection services from area volunteer fire departments, despite uncer-tainty as to the effect of possible annexation of some areas of the township into the city of Huntington.

Huntington Township Trustee Tim Guy told members of his advisory board on Friday, March 14, that two volunteer fire departments - Andrews and Markle - have signed contracts to provide service to areas of Huntington Township on April 15.

Boards of two additional volunteer fire departments - Mt. Etna and Clear Creek/Bippus - have "overwhelmingly approved" an agreement to serve Huntington Township, Guy said, but have not yet signed contracts. Guy said he expects to receive signed contracts from those departments early the week of March 17.

The township advisory board voted earlier this year to end a decades-old fire protection contract with the city of Huntington as of April 15. The vote came after city officials pro-posed either a dramatically higher payment from the township or the implementation of a fire district that would take in both the city and the unincorporated areas of the township.

On March 11, Huntington Mayor Brooks Fetters proposed annexing large areas of Huntington Township into the city, a proposal that, if approved, would reduce the amount of tax revenue available to the township but also provide city fire protection and other city services to the annexed areas.

The annexation proposal came as a surprise to township officials, they said.

If the township had been aware earlier of the possibility of annexation, Township Advi-sory Board President Andy Zay said, "this might have changed the tenor, the ideas" of the fire protection debate.

On Friday, the township board agreed to transfer $200,000 from its cumulative fire fund, part of the proceeds from the sale of a fire truck to the city, to the township's rainy day fund and then into the township firefighting fund - a process required by state law.
With the money in the firefighting fund, it will be available for payments to the four vol-unteer fire departments. The township board will hold a special meeting on March 24 at 9 a.m. to conduct a public hearing and appropriate that money.

Once all contracts are signed, changes must be made to maps used by emergency dis-patchers to determine which fire department will be the primary responder to a specific area. Guy said he expects that process to take only a week or two.

Should the township need to extend its fire protection contract with the city past April 15, Guy said, city officials must be informed no later than Monday, March 24.

Contracts with the volunteer fire departments may change if the city's annexation is ap-proved.

"A significant amount of the area that we're asking them to cover would go back to the city," Zay said. "Has there been any conversation on that?"

Advisory board member Terry Miller said that would require simply changing the re-sponse maps, and Guy added that "the financial terms are set in stone."

However, Guy added, he does not believe the city's annexation attempt will be success-ful.

"I expect tremendous opposition to it," Guy said.

If the annexation is approved, Zay said, "it could be very difficult for us to raise enough income" to pay for fire protection.