BRISTOL — Township trustees and fire officials are reviewing options on how to get more staff at the fire department.
Trustees met at the fire department recently with about 15 residents to seek suggestions and ideas such as all full-time staff, all part-time or a combination, and how to pay them.
Roger French, retired Bristol fire chief, said having full-time firefighters would be the option that would best benefit the fire department.
However, fire Chief Steve Craiger said he would recommend part-time staff also be part of the equation.
“I personally would like to try and cover the fire department part-time again. If we increase the part-time wages and benefit and work package, I feel we can get the shifts covered with all part-time. The ultimate goal would eventually be to have full-time people here so if someone needs an ambulance or a fire truck we can guarantee it will be there,” Craiger said.
He said even with full-time firefighters, it would be difficult to hire and cover the costs for six full-timers because the township does not have the revenue. He said it would cost more than $1 million.
Craiger said if three full-time firefighters are hired, there also would be the part-time staff available to cover shifts.
He said paying part-time staff $20 to $22 per hour would help attract candidates since it would be the same or close to what full-time staff are paid. Fire officials at the meeting said Vienna and Newton Falls pay their firefighters between $23 and $25 per hour.
Trustees said nothing is finalized, but a possible fire levy on the ballot in spring 2027, at the earliest, could be an option for generating funds to pay firefighters more and attract them to Bristol.
Trustee Jeff Waldeck said he does not believe the board wants a levy at this time.
“What do the people want, full-time or part-time firefighters?” Waldeck asked.
He said $18 per hour does not attract the firefighters who can make more elsewhere.
“We are looking at different options for manning the fire station. The options are all full-time, all part-time or a combination of the two. We have to look at paying more to attract employees,” Waldeck said.
French said one change in Bristol is the loss of many businesses that paid taxes, including grocery stores, gas stations, a pizza business, barbershop and a car dealership.
He said the loss of so many businesses has hurt the local tax base that benefitted the fire department.
French said small towns like Bristol link their identity with the fire department. French said the department can’t get volunteers.
Trustee Doug Seemann said the fire department is trying to become more self-sufficient and not rely on Champion for emergency medical service assistance. He said 90% of the fire department calls are for EMS.
A survey is being taken on what fire department services residents want, if they would support a levy for personnel, and what fire and EMS services are important to them.
OPIOID SETTLEMENT MONEY
In other business, trustees agreed to use the remaining federal opioid settlement money to cover the $10 cost per student to park at the high school and for the cost of rental fee and cleaning for substance abuse program meetings hosted at the township hall.
Snyder said the Bristol schools charge students a $10 annual fee for a parking permit to park at the high school. She said the township will use the opioid money to cover all the permit fees of the students who drive to school if they agree to random drug testing during the school year.
Snyder said opioid funds can only be used for specified uses.
DATA CENTERS
Trustees also spoke with Ken Weeks of the township zoning board on the need to include information and parameters for data centers in the zoning code.
“With data centers, it is like a big Pandora’s box,” Weeks said.
He said the zoning commission has been reviewing what Hubbard has done with data centers such as regulating them based on sound levels and locations. Weeks said many communities have placed moratoriums on permits for data centers.
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