Liverpool Township receives VFD grant

LaCROFT — The Liverpool Township Volunteer Fire Department radio system will be switching to narrowband service through money received from an Assistance to Firefighters Grant, Chief Mike Bahen said Monday. The Assistance to Firefighters grant comes from the Department of Homeland Security and is the third grant the department has received over the last three years. The grant covers 25 portable radios, 3 base station radios, and one full set of airbags. Bahen said the department’s efforts to purchase the new system were in response to an order by the Federal Communications Commission that all public safety departments have narrowband service by 2013. Narrowband service is supposed to prevent different radio frequencies from “bleeding over” into other radio traffic. Bahen requested the Liverpool Township board of trustees approve the $15,912 grant. Both Chair Steve Betteridge, and trustee Karl Kontnier approved a motion to accept the grant. Vice-Chair Keith Burke was not in attendance. If the department had waited to make the upgrade at one time it would have cost approximately $50,000, Bahen explained. By accepting grants over a period of three years, the purchase has been made at no cost to the township, he said. Five new airbags will be purchased by the department through the grant money. The new airbags can lift up to 76 tons, which is enough to lift a railroad car, Bahen pointed out. Air bags can be used to lift vehicles off people if needed. “All we need is one inch (of room) to slide that bag under there and lift it off of them,” he said. Bahen also asked trustees to approve an additional $3,500 to be used for the purchase of new radio-pagers and chainsaws, as well as $838 the township must contribute as matching funds for the grant. “Once we go to narrowband we are going to lose all of our pagers and they are not going to work,” Bahen explained. Bahen told trustees he and Police Chief Charlie Burgess discussed splitting the cost of radio-pagers between departments since each department’s radio service will be effected by the upgrade. Trustees approved the motion, and radio-pagers were purchased later that day. The radio repeater located at the LaCroft Fire Station will also be fixed. It went out of service nearly a month ago after it was struck by lightning. “If the repeater ever gets hit with lightning again all we have to do is, (the radio company) will tell us where to hook it up and we’ll be right back in service,” he said. Police Chief Charlie Burgess said, “It’s like switching two wires and you’re back up and running.” Trustee Karl Kontnier asked Bahen if the repeater is set up for surge protection, to which he responded yes. The department was also in need of new chainsaws, which were purchased Monday upon board approval. “We were in a tornado once and we literally had three saws and I said I would never be caught like that again,” Kontnier said. Kontnier advised Bahen that purchasing three smaller chainsaws would be more economical as opposed to two larger ones. “You don’t want them all big, because if you got a small job, (what are you going to do)?”, he said. In other business, the board also approved allowing the police department to purchase a new cruiser from Grand Ford for approximately $23,040. Kontnier said purchasing through Grand Ford in East Liverpool benefits the county and also saves money. The cost of the car is below the state purchasing price, Burgess said. The new cruiser is needed because the 2004 Crown Victoria cruiser the department currently has suffered from a rotted intake manifold. A 2007 Chevy Impala cruiser had its transmission go out, but was rebuilt at no cost to the department, Burgess said. “We are going to end up in a situation where they are all going to need replaced at one time, and with the finances available, I think we need to consider ordering one now,” he said. The board also approved accepting the monthly activity report for the department, and paying time and a half for full-time and part-time township employees for anything over eight hours worked in a row. The police department received 110 calls, made one arrest, and responded to nine accidents for the month of January. The next regular township meeting will take place Monday, Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. in the administration building.