Fire district levy to be decided in Canfield and township

July 30--CANFIELD -- Residents of the township and city will have an operating levy for the fire district before them at this November's election.

The Cardinal Joint Fire District's board approved the levy request this week, and the paperwork was submitted to the Mahoning County Board of Elections Tuesday for the Nov. 4 ballot.

It is a 1.25-mill permanent levy that will generate $627,854 annually and will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $43.75 per year.

Fire district Chief Don Hutchison said this levy is for the new fire station that will be built on Herbert Road, next to Canfield Township's athletic fields.

"Whenever the board focused on building a fire station, they did not want to build it without having the funds to man it," Hutchison said.

The resolution to put the levy on the ballot passed with a 4-0 vote. Board member and city Councilman John Morvay was absent from the meeting.

When asked if he thought Canfield residents would be wary of another levy after passing a school levy last November, Hutchison said: "We run on our record. We run on what we do for the community. ... [We] participate in everything that we can in the community."

Canfield Township trustee and fire district board member Marie Cartwright echoed Hutchison. "The majority of calls in our neighborhoods are for emergency medical issues. ... I think people realize that and support the fire district," she said.

The selection of the station to be built in the northwest area of the district's coverage zone was made after four studies. Those all showed the department's slowest response time along with increased residential development was in the northwest.

The district currently has stations at Canfield City Hall and on Messerly Road. A 0.9-mill equipment levy, passed in 2006, is paying for the cost of building the new firehouse.

Those studies looked at a new firehouse in three areas of coverage, and how many additional streets could be covered. A new firehouse in the southwest area would service 12 more streets, southeast 22 more streets and in the northwest, which was chosen, 49 more streets.

Cartwright also talked about how the district recently had lowered its Insurance Services Office ratings for Canfield residents. ISO ratings were dropped recently for parts of Canfield from 9 to 6 because of the use of "dry hydrants." She explained those are hydrants that draw from homeowners' lakes, and those homeowners and the fire district have agreements in place for that.

The new fire station could lead to lower ISO ratings and lower insurance rates for residents. "It is a possibility for the next [rating]. That is a great possibility, especially for those residents over" in the northwest, Cartwright said.

The fire district selected Balog, Steines, Hendricks, and Manchester Architects Inc. of Youngstown in late May. The new building would house one full-time firefighter, also licensed as a paramedic; and one part-time employee. Hutchison said the plan is to have some training facilities at the new facility as well.

The Cardinal Joint Fire District Board is made up of members representing the city council, township trustees, a citizen representing the township and city, and one at-large member.

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