Brookfield trustees have an issue with Brookfield Township Fire Station 51 being closed. And, all three trustees “promised” there would be no new fire levy placed before the voters to address the problem. Since a levy was passed to build and man (keep open) Station 51 several years ago, why would the trustees even think of another levy when taxpayers are not getting what they paid for when they already did pass a levy?
Supposedly, the reason the station is closed is due to a lack of manpower. Is this a surprise when part-time firefighters are paid less than $11 an hour? And, the part-time employee at the park is paid over $12 an hour and the code enforcement officer, who recently resigned, was paid $15 an hour? Who is more important, our firefighters, a part-time park employee or someone who tells you your grass is too high? How sad is this?
Our current fire chief stated that the station is not closed every day, but it is still closed, per his own report, 29 days already this year. That’s one month out of two. The original levy was passed to keep the station open 24/7.
We are told that the levy money is being placed into the general fund – why not the fire fund? I hope this is not an accounting error. Our trustees have known about this problem for quite some time but appear not willing to reduce our property taxes. Why should we continue paying for something we are not getting?
Mickie Foltz,
Masury
