Salem begins dispatching for Beloit fire, EMS

SALEM - Salem went on line providing fire and Emergency Medical Service dispatching for the village of Beloit at 3:34 p.m. Wednesday.

Last week, city council approved a measure to provide dispatching to Beloit which is located in southern Mahoning County, about nine miles west of Salem.

Later the same day, the six-member Beloit village council passed its own agreement.

The 2000 United States Census placed the villages' population at 1,024. The contract, in which the village will pay Salem $450 a month, runs for five years and is effective Aug. 1 and includes a 90-day opt-out clause.

Beloit averages between 360 and 400 fire and EMS calls a year, according to Beloit Councilman Jim Dyke who said the village asked Mahoning County for help but was turned down.

Weeks ago, Med-Corp., a Toledo-based dispatching service, advised about a half dozen townships and villages in western Mahoning County it was stopping dispatch services for them.

The Beloit Volunteer Fire Department is located at 17849 E. Fifth Street St. and provides coverage to outlying areas including parts of Smith Township while its EMS coverage includes the village, Smith and Knox townships. The phone number 330-938-6820 will not change.

In a dispatching issue unrelated to the Beloit Fire Department, Salem city council will meet at 6:30 p.m. today and is expected to approved a temporary dispatching contract for the Perry Township Police Department.

Township trustees approved a resolution to have the Columbiana County sheriff's office provide police dispatching services for it as soon as it is able to convert over to and implement its Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) it purchased at a July 23 special meeting.

Salem is expected to approve a measure that will bill the township at $75 per day, based on the last contract that concluded in September of 2006, with a three-percent increase for each subsequent year, 2007 and 2008.

The cost of additional equipment is between $6,000 or $7,000 and the township will be able to recover that in a little over a year.

Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net