The Board of Deerfield Township Trustees met in regular session on Monday, December 12, 2022, at 6:00pm, with Trustees Ed Dean, Tiffany Havens and Mark Bann present. Chairman Bann opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Ed moved to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the previous meeting and approve them as written. Tiffany seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
Ed moved to approve the November financials as presented. Tiffany seconded the mo- tion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
Communications:
- OTARMA sent a letter requesting Deerfield Township to participate in the Board of Directors election to fill two (2) open seats for 2023.
- Twelve (12) residents and fire members volunteered their time to decorate the Deerfield Circle with Christmas lights. The Trustees thanked the Deerfield Civic Association for the donation of the trees. Tiffany made a motion to pay a total of $434.96 for Christmas lights. Ed seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.Fire Department: Assistant Chief Scott Simmons provided a verbal report for the fire department on activity since the last meeting. The fire department is up to approximately 519 runs for the year, with 34 ran since the last meeting, which includes 22 EMS calls, 4 fires, 4 motor vehicle accidents, 7 mutual aids, 5 mutual aids received, 2 public assists, 1 alarm drop, 1 smoke fire investigation and 0 burning complaints.The fire reimbursement checks for the members have been completed and disbursed.Unit #1411, the ambulance is back in service. The front end was aligned and ball joints were replaced. The tires will need to be replaced in the future, but not at this time. Ed made a motion to pay Commercial Truck & Trailer at a cost of approximately $700. Mark seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.Unit #1418, Chief Sutcliffe received an estimate of $3,000 to replace both of the side dump valves on the tanker from Sugarcreek, Ohio. Vaughn and Scott will work on getting an estimate closer to Deerfield.There will be someone out to survey the station for the septic proposal. The drawings provided were not sufficient, but indicated still on budget. Because of the lack of room at the station, a soil sample will not be needed and enough to reject the mound system. They anticipate an aerator system.Mr. Greg Langford, firefighter, has resigned sighting lack of time with his new dispatch job and working Atwater station. Deerfield Township is down to 29 members.
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Tiffany made a motion to approve up to two (2) members to attend Fire Officer 1 and 2 Training at the Palmyra Fire Station at a cost of $750 each. Ed seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
Life Force Management sent a letter recommending an increase to ambulance fees, which will be discussed at the Organizational Meeting in January, 2023. Medicare is expecting an 8.7% increase, which is the largest increase in history. The last increase was in 2009 at 5%.
Portage County Fire Chief dues are due at a cost of $55.
Assistant Chief Scott Simmons presented a Wildlands Fire Grant available with a suggestion to replace the old ATV with a UTV with a fire pump and water tank for grass fires. The ODNR Department of Wildlife grant is a 50/50 matching grant up to $10,000. The Trustees are open to this replacement should we be awarded the grant.
The Scuba Packs received on the AFG Grant should arrive shortly.
It is assumed that at this point, the Deerfield Fire Department is on track to receive the SAFER Grant.
Nick Lam’s employer, the NEFF Company, donated a custom tailgate to the Fire Department for Unit #1426 pick-up at a value of $286.62.
Tiffany disbursed to the other Trustees her suggestions for the Fire Chief position employment ad.
Mark made a motion to give the Lowe’s Card back to the Fire Chief to make purchases up to $150/month with documentation per the Township credit card policy. Ed seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
Road Department: Ed made a motion to approve a barrel of 15w40 engine oil at a cost of approximately $900. Mark seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
The 70 tons of salt on contract has been delivered.
Buildings & Grounds: Ed made a motion to pay up to $900 to have septic pump work completed at the Deerfield Town Hall & Garage by Portage Septic. Mark seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
The Trustees are looking into pricing to switch from the water softener system to a hydrogen peroxide injection system. It is a one-time fee of approximately $1,000.
Ed made a motion to change to Powers Fuel in Alliance for fuel and propane since Southwest Fuels allowed us to run out of fuel. Tiffany seconded the motion and the roll call was unanimous.
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New Business: Mark made a motion to schedule the end of the year meeting for December 29th at 7:00pm and the Organizational Meeting for January 9, 2023 at 6:00pm. Ed seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
The following bills were presented for Trustees’ inspection and approval: See Payment Register attached.
Mark made a motion to pay these bills and adjourn the meeting. Tiffany seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
Meeting adjourned at 6:40pm.
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