Willoughby Hills lays out budget plans for service, fire department at recent hearing

Marah Morrison, The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio
·2 min read

Mar. 11—The Willoughby Hills City Council's Finance Committee recently held its first of two budget hearings.

The initial hearing had a focus on the city's Service Department, as well as its Fire Department.

Among the topics that were discussed was that the price of road salt is almost the same as last year. If the mild weather should continue, the city will have a stockpile of salt to carry into next winter at the same price, said Mayor Andy Gardner.

"With the construction of the new salt storage facility, we have the perfect place to store the salt," Gardner said.

The focus on the city's road resurfacing program will be the cost of the engineering and local share for the Ohio Department of Transportation's Chardon Road resurfacing project, which will take place west from SOM Center Road to Bishop Road.

"These costs will be incurred this year and the resurfacing will take place in 2024," Gardner said. "The city will be resurfacing Pleasant Valley Road from the bridge west to Chardon Road and restriping all roads in the city. I am also hoping that we will again be able to coordinate the repainting of fire hydrants in the city with the Lake County Water Department."

Meanwhile, Fire Chief Robert Gandee said his department continues to focus on increasing staffing and updating its vehicle fleet.

"The 2023 budget includes funding for a sixth firefighter on all shifts," Gandee said. "Our hope is that we will be able to provide more staffing on our emergency responses while, at the same time, having a buffer in place to avoid overtime in the event that a scheduled firefighter cannot work their shift."

Gandee also reported that the department's new incident command vehicle is in its final stages of upfitting and should be on the road in the next three weeks. The department's new fire engine will start to be built this month with delivery late this summer to follow.

In addition, a new ambulance will be ordered to come into service in 2024 and the replacement for the fire chief's emergency response vehicle is expected to be delivered next quarter. The Service Department has also been able to do some projects to freshen up some of the spaces in the Fire Department.

"The department has obtained many grants to assist with the cost of equipment replace over the years — new SCBAs, radios, hoses, thermal imagining equipment," Gandee said. "We will continue to pursue those grants. The department is also evaluating the use of grants to add additional, full-time personnel."

The next budget hearing is scheduled for March 15 and will focus on the Police Department and administrative budgets. City Councilman Mike Kline, chair of the Finance Committee, said he welcomes questions from the public and can be reached via email at MikeKline@Willoughbyhills-oh.gov.