Scio to vote next meeting on Silver Spade fire contract

Hopedale Fire Chief Mark Marchetta appeared before Scio Council representing the Silver Spade district regarding a new contract for 2026.

Mayor James Clark said the contract was updated after he and village Solicitor Jack Felgenhauer exchanged ideas by email. Clark said council will wait to vote until the next meeting because two council members were absent. Two members who attended serve as EMTs and would have to abstain from voting, he said.

Felgenhauer confirmed the contract language had been updated “as to form.”

Clark noted the contract does not mention weekend coverage. Marchetta said weekend coverage was never part of the original agreement.

“So the weekend coverage was never a part of the original proposal because there was never the funding there for it,” Marchetta said. “So, on the weekend, it’s the volunteers of the Scio Volunteer Department.”

Marchetta said the on-call system is not guaranteed because not everyone is available every weekend. If Hopedale personnel are not available, he said the call falls to the county backup service, which he said is in Bowerston.

“The good news is we’ve covered the great majority of those calls on the weekend but it’s not 100%,” Marchetta said.

Clark also asked whether there are plans if Ohio voters abolish property taxes in the future.

“That is going to be devastating for Harrison County and the entire state of Ohio,” Marchetta said. “I mean that’s kind of an understatement in how devastating that would be, but right now for the Hopedale Fire Department, all of our funding is property tax, every piece of it. Every piece of the Silver Spade is property tax.”

Marchetta said the sheriff’s office and the 9-1-1 system are also funded by property taxes and said the elimination of property taxes would have broad impacts.

“So, elimination of the property tax will be devastating for the police, fire, sheriff, EMS and all of Harrison County, not just Hopedale Fire Department,” he said.

Marchetta said he has discussed contingency plans with others, including politicians, but said no plan exists.

“I don’t know, it’s pretty scary,” he told council.

Council also swore in members Jamie Sabol, Kari Salsberry, Erin Thompson and Doug Whiteman, all incumbents. They were the only candidates on the ballot. Whiteman led the vote with 70, followed by Thompson with 56.

Voters also approved a current-expense tax levy, 57-35.