Boardman voters will decide whether or not to add more ambulances to fire department’s fleet

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – A levy that would get the Boardman Fire Department two new ambulances is headed to the ballot this November.

Boardman trustees gave its final approval Monday night.

“You never want to be in a position where you pick up the phone and call 911, and nobody shows up,” said Fire Chief Mark Pitzer.

It’s a worst-case scenario Pitzer is worried could become real.

Since May, when the department bought a brand-new ambulance — its ambulance that backs up Lane — it’s transported 160 patients and is on track to transport over 300 by the end of the year.

“EMS is a large component,” Pitzer said. “If they need a police officer, if they need a firefighter or they need a paramedic — it’s an essential service.”

The levy is 4.5 mills and five years. It would raise $6.1 million per year for the department. That’s enough money for two more ambulances, which would result in one ambulance at each station and the 18 staff members needed to man them.

For homeowners with a house valued at $100,000, it would cost $158 a year.

Some Boardman Fire Department members are already getting EMS certifications.

“Getting that service to our residents is extremely important to us. Our firefighters have definitely stepped up,” Trustee Thomas Costello said.

Costello noted if the levy passes, Boardman residents will be “soft billed” every time they use the service.

“Meaning, we will only bill them and accept whenever the insurance companies pay, and not bill them the difference. Non-Boardman taxpayers or non-Boardman residents, they will get billed for the entirety of the bill,” he said.

Though the township plans to continue its partnership with Lane ambulances, trustees say ambulance companies are being stretched thin as their numbers dwindle in the Valley.

“We want to make sure that if somebody’s on their worst day, they call, they need us…we’re there,” Pitzer said.

For now, the fate of the fire department’s plan lies in the hands of voters this fall.

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