Representatives from Perrysburg Township and the City of Rossford will meet Friday to discuss a contracting of services for their fire departments.
This will be the first time both sides have sat down to discuss the possibilities.
“We haven’t had any discussions with them,” Brice said.
At the Feb. 21 township trustees meeting, fire Chief Tom Brice reported his team had been working on a proposal to give to Rossford.
He said any solution would be good for the township and for the city.
He will present Rossford with the township’s draft proposal and price on Friday.
“There are a lot of things that we don’t know, and we probably won’t know until the board comes to a decision and city council comes to a decision,” Brice said.
“It’s not going to change the staffing at this station,” Brice said. “If anything, it will increase the staffing … it will definitely not decrease the staffing at this station.”
The township’s fire equipment will stay in the township and Rossford will keep theirs. Perrysburg Township would provide staffing at Rossford that the city would pay for.
Administrator Jon Eckel said the draft document will be available to the public when it is ready and public hearings will be held before a decision is made.
Rossford City Council at its Jan. 8 meeting was presented with three options: Developing a stand-alone full-time department, forming a fire district with one or more neighboring communities, and contracting with a neighboring community.
Rossford Mayor Neil A. MacKinnon III has publicly said he prefers contracting with Perrysburg Township for fire services.
After Monday’s city council meeting, MacKinnon said he hoped to get some clarity for what an agreement would look like.
“The reason I personally like the Perrysburg Township option is we wouldn’t have to build a second station in the Crossroads,” he said.
Perrysburg Township’s fire station also is closer to Rossford Elementary School and athletic facility the R, he said, and Rossford would have a 24/7, 365-days-a-year department in our existing station.
“It also makes us the safest fastest, and nobody can debate that,” MacKinnon said, “and it is the more economical.”
The Rossford station also is closer to areas of the township than the township’s department, he said.
