Issue 6: Westfield Fire Department to have fire operations levy for equipment, wages, and new personnel

WESTFIELD TWP. — Westfield Township will have a continuous fire operations levy on the May ballot, which would allow the department to repair and replace current equipment, hire more personnel, and raise pay for personnel. Issue 6 is a 3.5-mill continuous levy that will go until released. It would bring in $409,000 a year, and would cost a taxpayer $122.50 per $100,000 in home value. "It's imperative we sustain and enhance the services we provide," Westfield Fire Chief Brian Cavanaugh said. "Staffing is huge." Cavanaugh said that staffing has been a key factor of the department he wants to improve. "We don't pay our staff to be here 24 hours a day," he said. "They're here 24 hours a day, but they only get a stipend after 8 p.m. To keep and retain our current staff that we have trained, I'd like to pay them an equitable wage that keeps them here for a duration." Maintenance of equipment is also something Cavanaugh wants to fund with the levy. "From vehicles to bandages, it affects everything," he said. "All our engines, our tankers, need services and repairs. We also need manpower to run that equipment. The goal is to have enough in our budget to replace our 24-year-old tanker that costs a lot to repair or our ambulance that's at the end of its 10-year life. "There's also things that are smaller that need attention. We haven't had big purchases in our equipment in a long time. That's only half the battle. We need to replace EMS and fire equipment as technologies change." Having hired 14 responders in the previous 10 months, Cavanaugh said he wants to add more full-time employees to the department while keeping them paid higher wages. "To serve the community to the fullest extent that we can, we need staff to respond to the number of calls," he said. "They can go five miles down the road in any direction and make two to four more dollars an hour. We have a firefighter that makes more money scooping ice cream than they do working as a firefighter for Westfield. We want to retain these individuals for years to come, but in reality they will move on to better opportunities that with our existing budget we cannot offer if this levy does not pass." Cavanaugh said that the calls for services have increased by 43 percent, and that there are necessary changes the department must make going forward in order to achieve full time service and faster response times. "It's nothing frugal, nothing extra," he said. "It's all necessary to maintain the fire department that we have. I know it's a big ask, but it's needed." Contact reporter Mason Savoia at (330) 721-4050 or at msavoia@medina-gazette.com.