Atlanta fire department not online

Town was never without emergency service protection

The Atlanta Fire Department was not online as scheduled on July 1, but town residents were never without emergency protection. Jackson Township will continue to provide service until Atlanta’s fire department is officially operational. The continuity of emergency coverage is, in large part, thanks to the proactive efforts of Jackson Township Fire Department Chief Jeff Muszar, who checked with the county emergency dispatch center asking if Atlanta was ready to go online as planned.

On May 1, Atlanta gave notice that they were terminating their contract with the Jackson Township Fire Department for both fire protection and Advanced Life Saving (ALS) services, effective at midnight on Sunday, July 1.

At 4:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, the Atlanta Town Council held an emergency meeting to renew fire and ALS services with the township.

According to Atlanta Council Member John Phifer, who was in attendance at Monday afternoon’s emergency meeting, “There’s been some hold up getting us on the CAD for call-out for our fire department. They’ve been trying to get the county to get the run order put in place and there has been some confusion or lack of communication. But right now, that is our hold up.”

Phifer claims there has been communication between Atlanta Fire Department Chief Jerry Liston and Hamilton County Communications Executive Director Mike Snowden, but as of July 1, Atlanta was not listed on Hamilton County’s 911 service as being in service.

Atlanta Town Council President Fred Farley said he received a call from Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt Sunday afternoon, making him aware that Atlanta was about to be without emergency services.

“Jackson Township gracefully extended their service back to us,” Farley said. “I greatly appreciate that. I have spoken with both Trustee Miller and Chief Muszar and our community is protected. As council president I will say that I greatly appreciate that.”

“The bottom line is our citizens have to be protected,” Farley said.

Thanks to Chief Muszar

According to Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt, it was Chief Muszar who first called to bring this issue to light on Sunday.

Heirbrandt said he is grateful to Chief Muszar for bringing the issue to his attention and for his verbal commitment to extend service until Atlanta could reach an agreement with Jackson Township.

At approximately 1 p.m. on Sunday, Chief Muszar spoke to Snowden, explaining that Atlanta was terminating Jackson Township emergency service as of midnight and asking if the town would be covered. Muszar told The Reporter, “At that point Mike Snowden said, ‘We have a problem because they don’t have their units in the CAD and nothing has been set up, so we don’t have a response to Atlanta at all.’”

Muszar’s response to that situation was, “In the interest of public safety we have to protect the taxpayers of Atlanta. Go ahead and respond my units as primary until we can get this figured out.”

Muszar told The Reporter he made the initial call to Snowden to check on Atlanta’s service out of concern for their citizens. While there is no reason anyone should necessarily have informed him about what would happen in Atlanta after the town chose to terminate his department’s service, he felt compelled to check on the safety of citizens in his township.

Trustee’s assistance

Jackson Township Trustee Christina (Chris) Miller received a call from Council President Farley about the situation on Sunday afternoon.

“Fred said they had a problem and needed my help,” Miller told The Reporter. “He said he thought they were ready (to be online for fire and ALS service) but he found out they were not ready.”

Their discussion resulted in an offer for Jackson Township to continue to handle the emergency services for Atlanta on a month-to-month contract.

The stipulation Miller asked to have included in the amended contract is that Atlanta let the township know, in writing, by the 20th of each month if the town is ready to terminate the monthly service agreement. If the township is not notified by then, the contract will automatically renew for the following month.

That amendment will have to be signed by both the town council and the township board.

“We do not want anyone to go without emergency services,” Miller said. “We are more than happy to provide that based on the contract. But it is better to be proactive than reactive, which is why we want that clause added to let us know by the 20^th that they will be ready by the 1^st, so there is plenty of time to put what needs to be done in motion.”

The outcome of the Atlanta town council meeting on Monday was a vote to rescind the termination of the contract, placing the one-year contract for emergency services back in force. According to Farley, the full council voted unanimously to do so.

Miller and the township board agree that this is a good solution. Miller has an email from Atlanta noting the outcome of the meeting. She has asked Atlanta for written notice that the vote canceling the termination of service was approved to present to her board. As of Tuesday afternoon, she had not been given official written notice.

The next step is for Atlanta and Jackson Township to agree to an amendment to that contract which will turn it into a monthly agreement at the same cost.

Jackson Township Trustee Clerk Heather Souder provided The Reporter with a copy of the original contract, which included an annual service cost of $31,201. Souder told The Reporter the monthly agreement, when finalized, will be billed at $2,600.08 per month and includes Fire and EMS Protection with the availability of two ambulances staffed with EMTs and Paramedics.

That amount, if carried out for the year, is within $0.04 of the original agreement.