| Times-Reporter correspondent
NEWCOMERSTOWN It’s not a new levy, but it’s not exactly an old levy as the Tri-County Joint Ambulance District seeks to bring a formerly passed levy into the present through a replacement issue on the November ballot.
Tri-County will have a one-half mil replacement levy on the ballot. Similar to a renewal levy, the replacement issue will allow the District to increase revenue by approximately $6,000 per year. The District is made up of the Villages of Newcomerstown and Port Washington along with Oxford, Salem, Washington and Perry Townships.
District officials said the rising cost of equipment, supplies and payroll make it necessary to do the replacement levy instead of a renewal. The replacement levy brings all of the changes and adjustments in property value forward over the five-year period, to bring it to a true one-half mil levy.
The Tri-County Joint Ambulance District was established in 1971-72 as a governmental subdivision of the State of Ohio.
Janet Chaney, who has been the fiscal officer for Tri-County for the past 32 years, said the beginnings of the District began to address a lack of services to areas not contracted with other emergency services in the area.
“People decided they wanted an alternative to the private service so they decided to form a Joint Ambulance District,” Chaney said. “I believe that was spearheaded by Salem Township officials and the records were kept by them at that time.
“Currently the District is made up of six subdivisions: The villages of Newcomerstown and Port Washington and the Townships of Oxford, Salem, Washington and Perry. At one time Oxford Twp in Coshocton County and Wheeling Twp. in Guernsey County were members, which explains the Tri-County name. I don’t have a record of who was responsible for creating the district and if I try to give credit I will surely leave someone out!
“We will soon celebrate 50 years in service and what a difference 50 years have made! What started with an ambulance and attendants trained in first aid now has five ambulances and one medic response vehicle. We now have 41 full and part-time squad members: 15 medics, four EMT intermediates and 22 basic EMTs under the Leadership of Chief Alvin Moore, Asst. Chief Brian Schuler and Captain Shane Stull. They now have life saving drugs, Heart Monitor/Defibrillators and machines to do automatic CPR.”
Current members of the Board of Directors are: Allen Collins, Newcomerstown; Jim Thornton, Port Washington; Cindy Gray, Perry Twp.; Rick Casteel, Oxford Twp.; John Bourne, Salem Twp.; and Kevin Fenton, Washington Twp.
“We recently received a grant which will allow us to have a Monitor/Defibrillator in each ambulance as well as a Lucas Device, which is the CPR machine,” Chaney said. “Four of our ambulances will also be equipped with Power Load Cots which will help save our employees from injury.
“It has been 50 years of great times and bad times but our motto is we are ‘In Service For Life’.”
