ALBION – A building shared by several municipalities was at the forefront of discussions during the Conneaut Township supervisors meeting held on Monday, Aug. 6.

According to Rick Huston, Conneaut Township supervisor chairman, the West County Paramedics building, which was previously the home of the West County Communications Center, costs the township $1,985 every four months.
“The cost is shared among 10 other municipalities,” said Huston, who added that the municipality maintained partial control of the building for asset purposes.
According to Huston, on the West County Paramedics center grounds, located at 6852 Meadville Road, there is a communications tower that the Erie County 911 center had previously proposed to rent from the 11 municipalities that own the rights.
Supervisor Hank Miraldi said after some lengthy discussion that the 11 municipalities agreed to allow Erie County 911 to rent the communication tower. With Erie County 911 renting the tower, the 11 municipalities would receive an annual payment of $13,000.
“The payment from Erie County 911 would drop our payment by 27.9 percent each quarter,” said Miraldi. “Our payment in 2013 will be $1,430 per quarter.”
Miraldi and his fellow supervisors were pleased with the decrease in quarterly payments for 2013, although Miraldi felt there were a couple of things worth changing.
“I think West County Paramedics Association should pay a little more for the use of the building,” he said. “Otherwise, I am happy with the cost for 2013.”
Huston said that Conneaut Township and the other 10 municipalities have also been creating a surplus in the event any major fixes are needed on the building.
“By keeping a surplus account we should be able to cut our costs sometime in the future,” he said.
With Conneaut Township sharing control over the former West County Communications building with West County Paramedics Associations, West Erie County Emergency Management Agency and 10 other municipalities, they are privy to using the grounds for a variety of different purposes, including holding meetings.
Supervisors also discussed the burning ban, which has been in effect for Conneaut Township since the July 2 council meeting. The ban states that no burning can take place per orders from Albion Volunteer Fire Department Chief Scott Hyde.
Even with the recent rainfall, Huston said that he talked to Hyde and the chief said that the ban should stay in effect.
“Hyde told me we should keep the ban in effect,” said Huston, who added that the ban is ultimately determined by the supervisors. “There is no green yet. We don’t have a law that says you can’t burn but I strongly suggest people refrain from doing so.”
Supervisor Sally McCabe said that it only seems like common sense to keep the burning ban in effect.
“We should hold off until we hear from Hyde,” she said.
Supervisors decided to leave the burning ban in effect for Conneaut Township.
The next Conneaut Township supervisors meeting will be held on Monday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. at the townhouse located at 12500 Route 6N. The public is welcome to attend.
Chris Roth may be reached at  HYPERLINK "mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (814) 756-4133.