Brunswick Hills Twp. firefighter acknowledged at trustees meeting

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. — Brunswick Hills fire Chief Anthony Strazzo recognized Mike Eberl as the fourth full-time employee for the township's fire department during the Brunswick Hills trustees meeting Tuesday. Eberl grew up in Brunswick and went to fire school at Cuyahoga Community College. He also graduated from University Hospital Parma's paramedic program. Previously, he served in the U.S. Air Force for 23 years and retired as a major. More recently he worked as a quarterback for University Hospital's emergency department. He was sworn in for his full-time firefighter position on April 6. At this week's meeting, his family was there to see him take an oath and receive his badge. Later at the meeting, Strazzo asked that the trustees accept the resignation of firefighter Duriel Harris effective May 1. "We'll move to approve and thank him for his service to the township," Trustee John Witthuhn said. Strazzo said the community may be noticing more resignations than usual coming from the fire department. He said due to the nature of the job, employees are expected to work 12-hour shifts and weekends which makes employee retention more difficult. "Unfortunately, we're a 24/7 operation and we need people to work those and if they can't fulfill those obligations they decide to move on," he said. Also, the trustees discussed whether or not to keep the current health care plan for employees of the township. Despite the rising costs of the current plan, it was deemed beneficial to stick with it because the township is grandfathered in at the lower rate with the full coverage. The trustees found it to be unlikely that lower-cost coverage could be found with the same benefits. Witthuhn said it would be unfair to employees to change the plan at the last minute given that the renewal date is June 1. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.