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Ep. 37 — Clermont County Ballot Rundown and CJFED Levy with Chief Roy Short

We start with a brief refresher on mills and levy types, then walk through every countywide and major local ballot issue, from CPS and the Mental Health & Recovery Board to New Richmond’s earned-income tax, Milford’s charter revisions, and the Batavia Township zoning referendum and PD initiative.

In the second half, CJFED Fire Chief Roy Short explains the district’s 4.9-mill Fire/EMS levy, why response times on the west side top 10 minutes, how calls grew from 3,720 (2010) to 6,362 (2024), and what the levy would fund (staffing, a new station, aging apparatus). He also shares practical home-safety tips: smoke alarms, closed bedroom doors, escape plans, second-story ladders, and kitchen extinguishers.

Ballot quick hits

• CPS: renewal +0.2 mill (about $23 per $100K AV, 5 years)
• Mental Health & Recovery: renewal only (~$15 per $100K AV, 5 years)
• New Richmond Schools: 1.25% earned-income tax (continuing)
• Milford: City Charter revisions (full redline in show notes)
• Batavia Twp: Farmstead PD referendum; separate citizen PD removal initiative
• CJFED (Village + Township): new 4.9-mill Fire/EMS levy (continuing)
• Ohio Twp: new 1.5 mills Fire/EMS
• Pierce Twp: new 2.8 mills Police
• Wayne Twp: replacement EMS (1.0) & Fire (2.5); electric aggregation (opt-out)
• Local options: Sunday alcohol sales at specified addresses

Also in this episode

• News brief: carfentanil warnings; Redwood’s new single-story apartments; two Batavia Twp development hearings

Links in show notes

Example ballots for every locality
https://www.clermontauditor.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-Sample-Ballot-ALL-Precincts.pdf

Milford charter redline
https://cms6.revize.com/revize/milfordoh/document_center/Milford%20Charter%20Revisions(53449236.1).pdf
side-by-side spreadsheet

Milford Charter Side-By-Side Comparison
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EOO_dPhnlrU_kdzO9zXIO7xZ5BkHw99e/edit?gid=1091401509#gid=1091401509

Episode 32 - CPS Levy
https://www.letstalkclermont.com/episodepage/episode-31--dotty-meier-anne-gross--child-protective-services-levy

Episode 35 - Mental Health and Recovery Board Levy
https://www.letstalkclermont.com/episodepage/episode-35--dr-lee-ann-watson--mental-health-and-recovery-board-levy

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[00:00:11] Unknown:

We've been living in it since so long.   All  

[00:00:21] Unknown:

Welcome to episode 37   of Let's Talk Claremont. I am your host, Patrick, and thank you very much for listening. I'm happy you're here. I'm happy we've been getting a lot of new people from all these election,   interviews and and talking about election issues. So I'm I'm really happy that everyone's here. Thank you for listening. I'm still really happy it's fall. I got to rake up leaves into a big pile the other day. My kids were jumping in them and throwing these around. It was it was a really, really nice dad moment for me. I'd I really loved it. And Halloween is on Friday. I'm super excited about that. I got a bear onesie that I I'm actually looking forward to wearing. Like I said in previous episodes, I don't normally condone onesies, but   I will make an exception for Halloween.  

Alright. So today,   it's Thursday, and, normally, we talk about the news,   before we get into the interview. But because the election is next week, we are gonna go through all the ballot issues from across the county so you can get an idea of what we're gonna be voting on.   And before we get into these issues, we're just gonna do a real quick refresher on mills and levy types because we're gonna be talking about those a lot in all of these ballot issues. And don't worry. This is gonna be quick. It but I think it's very important   that we do this so we all know what we're talking about.  

So millage or mills. This is just a way of calculating tax. And one mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000   of tax taxable property value.   And taxable property value is 35%   of the appraised value of your property.   And all these levies and on the ballot, it'll tell you this too. So when you're voting, you'll be able to read all this. But all the levies will tell you how much you would owe   per $100,000   of property value. So you don't need to worry about calculating this too much. Just know that when we talk about mills, that is essentially a tax rate.   Alright. Levy types. Again, this will be real quick. An additional levy. That is a brand new levy and a brand new tax if passed.  

A renewal levy renews an expiring levy at its current effective rate. So your taxes will not go up or down   unless they do an increase like they did with the CPS levy, but we'll talk about that later.   There's also a replacement levy. This reimposes a levy at the original voted mills applied to today's value, so your taxes will go up.   And if you want more on this, listen to episode 35. That's where we talk to Leanne Watson from the mental health and recovery board about their levy.   In the intro, we go into a lot more detail about property tax, how it's calculated, millage, inside millage, outside millage,   all kinds of stuff like that. So if you want a really thorough look at that, head over to the intro for episode 35, and that is what you will get.  

But for today's purposes, I think that will suffice.   So let's get into what we're voting on.   Countywide, everybody in Clermont is gonna be voting on these things.   The child protective services levy.   This renews   the current 0.8 mil levy and adds point two mil for a total of 1 mil. But, again, because it's a renewal with an addition, it is essentially just a point two mil increase   on your current taxes. And this is gonna be for children's services,   care, and placement.   It is estimated to raise roughly $4,900,000   a year and will cost you, the taxpayer, roughly   $23   per $100,000   of your property value.  

It is a five year levy, and a vote yes means to keep the current levy and add   point two mil   four or five more years.   And a vote no means the existing levy expires without increase, and the county does not receive this funding. And if you wanna learn more about that levy, head over to episode 32   where we talk to child protective services about it.   Next up, mental health and recovery board levy.   This is a renewal only and will not increase your taxes, and it will be used for alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services.   It is estimated to raise roughly $3,000,000   per year and cost about $15   per $100,000   of the appraised value of your property.  

It is a it's another five year levy, and a vote yes means the point $7.05 mil levy will continue for five more years. A vote no means the levy expires and the funding goes away.   And if you wanna hear more about that, we interview the executive director, Leanne Watson, of the mental health and recovery board, and that is episode 35.   Alright. Let's talk about some city, village, and township stuff. We're gonna start with New Richmond.   New Richmond exempted village school district   has an earned income tax on the ballot. This is a 1.25%   school district income tax on earned income only for a continuing period, meaning it does not sunset or it doesn't go away   unless the the citizens of New Richmond decide to appeal it at some point in the future.  

Alright. So let's talk about earned income real fast. Earned income excludes things like retirement income, investment and passive income, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation,   benefits, child support received, gifts, bequests, and inheritances, and   estates. So none of that will be taxed. The tax applies   to wages and self employment income of district residents.   So a vote yes will enact a 1.25%   earned income school tax permanently,   again, until repealed by voters.   A vote no   means no new school district income tax. And we're gonna talk a little bit more about this later because there was a little bit of news out of New Richmond schools that gives us a little bit more context.   Next, we have the city of Milford.  

There are some city charter revisions. It is a citywide vote on adopting proposed revisions to the Milford City Charter.   The red line charter is posted on the city website, and I'll include that in the show notes and the newsletter. There's a lot of different things that they changed, so   I I didn't wanna take up too much time getting into the weeds. If you live in Milford,   check out that red line. And I also have a a Lincoln Excel sheet that I did that kind of shows the current charter and then shows what they're changing.   But a vote yes will adopt all the changes, and a vote no keeps the charter as it is. And like I said, there's a lot in the red line document, so you're gonna have a link to the red line document in the show notes and the newsletter. You're also going to have a link to a spreadsheet that I made   that will show you currently what's in it and then what they wanna change.  

So sign up for that newsletter.   Okay.   Moving on to Batavia Township. We got quite a quite a few things in Batavia Township.   The first is a zoning referendum   on the trustee's approval of zoning case B0325ZPD.   This is the farmstead development. It's a planned development, a PD,   rezoning   a bit of land at State Route 222   and Chapel Road.   The underlying zoning case sought PD approval for about 119,   120   acres, and it will include   169   single family,   units plus 72 family dwellings.   So a vote yes will uphold the trustee's   planned development approval,   that is the farmstead,   and development will go forward.  

A vote no   overturns the trustee's PD approval, and the zoning remains the same, which is agricultural.   There is a zoning initiative on the ballot. This is a citizen led initiative.   It's a resolution   to remove article 36 planned development   from the Batavia Township zoning resolution   in its entirety.   Now plan developments are zoning tools used for large master plan projects.   Some examples of planned developments from around the township   include Lexington Run, Forest Glen, and Woodbury Glen.   So a vote yes will remove article 36 so there will be no more planned developments   in the township code. Importantly, that doesn't mean that there won't be any more developments. It's just that planned developments will go away.  

A vote no keeps article 36, and planned developments will remain an option for future projects.   Alright. Let's move on. This is gonna be for the village and the township, and we're talking about it today with chief Short. It is the CJ Fed Fire and EMS Levy. This is a new   additional levy.   It's gonna be 4.9   mills   for CJ Fed. It is estimated to raise roughly $4,100,000   a year, and it will cost you, the taxpayer,   $172   per $100,000   of the appraised value of your property. It is continuing, so there is no end date.   A vote yes permanently adds a 4.9   mills tax for fire and EMS in the village and the township.  

A vote no means no new CJ Fed levy and no new taxes, obviously.   And if you wanna learn more, keep listening because our interview today is with chief Short from CJ Fed, and he talks all about this.   Okay.   Moving on to Ohio Township. It is another fire and EMS levy.   This is a new levy, an additional levy. It'll be a 1.5 mills levy for fire and EMS, and it will raise roughly $97,000   per year. And it's gonna cost you, the taxpayer,   $53   per   $100,000   of appraised property value.   It's continuing, so it will not go away. A vote yes will add a 1.5 mill tax permanently for fire and EMS, and a vote no means no new fire and EMS levy.   Pierce Township. They're trying their police levy again. It is a new or additional levy at 2.8 mills   for police services.  

It is estimated to raise roughly $1,900,000   a year, and it will cost the taxpayers   $98   per $100,000   of appraised   value. A vote yes means you will get a new levy and new taxes. A vote no means there will be no new levy and no new taxes.   Moving on to Wayne Township.   They have an EMS levy. It is a 1   or 1 mil   replacement levy for EMS services. Now remember, our replacement levy brings the effective millage back up to the original rate so your taxes will increase.   It is estimated to raise roughly   $121,000   per year and will cost taxpayers in Wayne Township   $35   per $100,000   of appraised property value. It's a five year levy, so in five years, it'll go away. Probably have to vote on it again if it if it passes.  

A vote yes replaces the existing EMS levy to bring the tax rate up to 1   mil of appraised value for five years.   A vote no keeps the current levy rate structure. Your taxes won't go up, but they're not gonna go down.   Fire levy. This is also for Wayne Township.   This is a 2.5 mills replacement levy   for fire protection. Again, replacement levy brings the millage back up to what it was originally voted on. It's estimated to raise about $303,000   per year. It will cost taxpayers   it will cost taxpayers in Wayne Township,   $88   per $100,000   of appraised property value. It is also a five year levy. A vote yes replaces the existing fire levy to bring the tax rate up to 2.5 mills of appraised value. A vote no keeps the current levy rate structure. Taxes won't go up, but they won't go down.  

Also, in Wayne Township, there is a community electric aggregation   measure.   This would authorize the township to aggregate electric customers and negotiate supply.   You would be automatically enrolled with a right to opt out. So if this passes, you're automatically enrolled in whatever kind of negotiations they do. But you do have the right to opt out. So it's not opt in. It's opt out.   This is only the authority to aggregate   and,   to aggregate and specify rates and suppliers.   I'm sorry. This is only the authority to aggregate,   and specific rates and suppliers   would be set lay later. So this is just giving Wayne Township the authority to do this. It's not telling you who your, you know, power supplier will be or what the rates are.  

A vote yes gives the township authority to set up an opt out aggregation program.   A vote no does not give the township aggregation authority, and the status quo   remains.   Okay. Couple more. And these are I don't know. I think these are kinda fun. I'm gonna call them boozy ballot decisions.   Goshen Township.   This would permit and I know I'm gonna get this name wrong. I'm gonna give it my best shot.   Ring   oh, Ring Cali Cayana   oh, we're just gonna go with that group, LLC, and this is an establishment located on 1415 State Route 28   to sell wine, mixed beverages, and spiritist liquor   on Sundays at the list of business. Yes means they can sell on Sundays at the permitted address. No means they cannot.  

And in Union Township, there's another boozy ballot decision that would permit Wawa number   seven two one zero, and this is at 4630   oh, I can never pronounce this road.   Eicholtz Road. I know. I know that's probably wrong. I'm sorry. I see it all the time. I have no idea how to pronounce it. I hope you know what I'm talking about. But it would permit that Wawa to sell wine and mix beverages at the listed location.   Vote yes means they can sell on Sundays at the permitted address. No   means they cannot.   Okay. So that is the ballot rundown. And I'm gonna put an example ballot for all township cities and villages in Clermont County in the show notes and in the newsletter. Sign up to the newsletter   so you can review it.  

And I am not gonna tell you how to vote on any of this stuff, but I will tell you you need to vote.   There's a lot of stuff on the ballot that is gonna affect our taxes. It's gonna affect how development happens in the county.   And if we want, you know, the things that we want, we gotta get out to those, those voting booths and and vote. So, please,   on the fourth,   try to try to make time to, to vote.   Okay. Let's do a really quick news rundown. There's not a whole lot, but I think there are some important things here. For Clermont County as a whole, normally, I don't like to talk about crime stuff, you know, drug busts and car crashes and things like that. But this one seemed particularly important.   And here's another word that I know I'm gonna I'm gonna botch, but I'm gonna give it give it the old college try.  

Oh, okay.   Car carfentanil.   Carf carfentanil.   We're gonna go with that, has reappeared   in the Cincinnati drug supply. Ohio's crime lab lab logged nearly 200 positive tests in 2025,   and that is about five times more   than in 2024.   Officials are warning the current drug supply and this is gonna this is like drugs you get at the pharmacy. These are illicit drugs.   The current drug supply is extremely   dangerous.   Carfentanyl   is 100 times stronger than fentanyl   and 10,000 times stronger than morphine.   And in Cincinnati in 2016,   there were forty eight overdoses   and two deaths in a single day because of this drug.  

The Hamilton County Heroin Task Force sees care oh, man. Carfentanyl   in December late last year, and authorities suspect   fentanyl supply disruption have pushed dealers   to add this drug to keep potency high.   Also, mixing with other drugs, a special man, all these drug names, especially   xylazine   raise, raises risks further, including severe wounds,   hospitals, and first responders   are being urged to stay prepared. So,   I'm not gonna condone drug use, but, you know, if you're out there and and that's your thing,   please please please be careful.  

Next, Batavia Township.   Redwood Living is building a new single story apartment neighborhood in the township called Redwood Behave Batavia.   It is at 1510   Redridge Drive in Amelia.   It consists of 111 apartment homes offering six floor plans, each with two bedrooms and two baths. Units range from a little over 1,200 square feet to a little over 1,600 square feet with starting rent at $11,999   a month. Features that includes spacious seating kitchens, a vaulted ceilings, bonus living space, full size appliances, washer dryer hookups, large closets,   upgraded finishes, and personal patios.  

The community is pet friendly, and you can have up to three pets.   Batavia Township Board of Trustees. They have two zoning hearings on the fifth.   We already went these already went through the zoning board, so this is going to be a vote to approve or deny the developments.   The first is the stone Stone Lick Ridge plan development. This is gonna be around Ross Road and right across from Lexington Run. It is an 808 home development.   The zoning board voted two two four two against, so the plan is going to the trustees with a recommendation   to deny.  

There is also a Drees Homes   project on the East Side of State Route 132 just north of Judd Road. That's gonna be about 300 homes.   During the zoning meeting, the lot size was increased,   cutting 15 to 25 lots, which decreased the density.   The zoning board voted five to nothing to recommend approval   contingent upon the the developer addressing   29   staff report items.   So that will be going to the trustees with a recommendation   to approve.   So   if you are concerned about either of those developments for or against, head over on the fifth,   to the Batavia Community Center for that meeting. And, again, in the,   newsletter, I will link both of those notices.  

Alright. Moving on to New Richmond.   Now we talked about the New Richmond   School in earned income tax on the on the ballot   recently.   The New Richmond Exemptive Village School District has been placed in fiscal caution   by the Ohio Department of Education and workforce due to projected   projected   budget deficits   in 2027   and 2028.   Now fiscal caution is the lowest of three oversight levels. It is before fiscal watch and fiscal emergency.   The district must submit a recovery plan by December 21   detailing specific cuts, a timeline, a board engagement,   and a board engagement.  

The state recommends making reductions in the spring and summer.   Long term long term shortfalls trace to the closure   of the Beckjord   and Zimmer power plants, which together   once made up about 37%   of the district's revenue.   And, again, a 1.25%   earned income tax levy is on the ballot.   The state views this as the primary fix, but requires a backup plan if that,   earned income tax fails.   If the if the levy fails,   leaders in the school district are projecting,   over 2,000,000 in cuts potentially affecting staffing and services like high school busing,   and personnel costs are about 75% of the budget. So   that's   in my mind, that's probably where, where they'd look to cut.  

Alright.   That is all the news we have, which will lead us to   thanking all the producers that came in under $50 for reasons of anonymity.   The donations actually came in yesterday, and I, unfortunately,   already recorded yesterday's,   episode. So thank you to, all the producers that came in under $50 for reasons   of anonymity.   It really helps the show, and we greatly appreciate it. Now if you are new, you might be curious why we're doing this. And what we're talking about is, value for value.   We are a value for value podcast. It keeps us independent, and it keeps us focused on the issues that you, the listener, or as I like to call everybody, producers,   are focused on.  

So what does value for value mean? That means if you find value in this show and what we're doing over here, all we ask is for a little value in return,   and that doesn't have to be just money. It can be in the form of time, talent, or treasure.   For time and talent, let me know what's going on in your community. We've talked a lot about Batavia   over this election season, and I know there's more stuff going on around the county. So let me know. Let me know what's going on in your community, in your neighborhood. I'd I'd love to cover it.   Also,   let me know who I should be talking to. You know, there's lots of interesting people, and we're gonna have lots more interesting interviews with people after this election season.  

You know, if your neighbor or you or somebody you know is doing really cool stuff around the county, let me know, and we'll try to get them on.   And if you are interested in sending in a high school sports rundown, get in touch, and we will figure that out. I think that'd be a nice, a nice little segment to add to this.   For treasure, if you have the means and and you want to, donate some money to this show, go to the website, click the donate tab, and you can donate via PayPal or Stripe. Those are the only two options I have right now. And if you wanna do something else, just get in touch. We'll make that happen. But PayPal and Stripe are the easiest ways to do it. And PayPal will let you do reoccurring donations. So, you know, if the shows work, worth a buck to you or $5 or, you know, maybe $5 a month, that'd be great. Head over to the website, www.let's.claremont.com.   Click donate, and you can do that there. And any dollar amount is greatly, greatly appreciated.  

It's really gonna help, help keep doing what we do here because frankly, this is a lot of work.   I'd spend a lot of time doing this and,   you know, it helps.   But for producers that donate $50 and above, you will get a special show mentioned. And for producers that donate $200 and above, you will get an executive producer credit that I will vouch for, and I'll read a note that you write for,   on air. And that can be anything. It can be an ad read for your business, what's going on with you,   boots on the ground report, whatever it is. I'll read it. I again, I keep saying that I'm not gonna read some kind of crazy manifesto or or hate filled whatever or, you know, your 10 bullet list of why you hate your neighbor, Bob. Like, I'm not gonna do that. But within reason, I will read just about any note that you send send in. And a quick note on the notes. If you do donate above $50, please email info@let'stalkclaremont.com   with your name and donation amount so I can match it up on the back end. If you don't, I won't know who you are, and I won't be able to mention you on the show or read your note.  

And, again, thank you to all the donors that came in under $50,   and that is for reasons of anonymity.   And connect with us on Facebook, Let's Talk Claremont podcast on Instagram at Let's Talk Claremont, and sign up for that newsletter. Www.let'stalkclairemont.com.   Click newsletter. Put your email in there. We're only gonna email you once a week on Thursdays when a new show comes out. And   this week's newsletter,   we have Katie's spiked fall cider recipe,   which we're gonna call Katie's Sip Happens cider.   And there's also a   cold remedy cider, which, I think we're calling   Katie's sniffle soother cider.  

That will also be in the newsletter. And we're gonna try to find more fun things to do for the newsletter   post election,   election   day,   when I've got a little more time to focus on it, frankly.   And, of course, follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever it is you use for podcasts. It really helps the show out, but it helps you out because you will be notified   anytime a new show gets published.   And as always, if you just wanna say hi or   give us a boots on the ground report or whatever it is, info@let'stalkclaremont.com.   Get in touch. I would really love to hear from you.  

Okay. This is our last election episode. And after this, we will officially be done with our accelerated posting schedule. We will be going back to regularly scheduled programming every Thursday. A new episode will come out, and the newsletter will will come out. But I want to take a real quick opportunity   to thank everyone who sat for an interview.   I think this it's really important, and there's not really a lot of opportunities   for all of us to hear   from candidates, local candidates, and,   you know, officials proposing levies and things like that. And I think it's very important to to do this, to hear from candidates, to hear from people who are proposing   new taxes and what they're gonna use those for.  

And   I really just, appreciate everybody for coming on. It I know it can be a little daunting sometimes   and nerve wracking, but and I try to make it as as comfortable as possible. But thank you very much, and   thank you for everybody who's been tuning in, new and old listeners.   And thank you for trusting me,   to interview all these people and and getting good information out of them.   It's it's really humbling,   and I want you to know that I've taken this very seriously.   I   I I really want to get you, the listener,   the best information possible during election year and outside of election year, but specifically during   during election season,   so you can make the best decision possible when you go into that voting booth.  

And   if the election stuff brought you to Let's Talk Claremont, I really hope you'll stick around. We're gonna be trying to get interviews with more public officials, but we're also gonna be interviewing all kinds of people doing interesting things, like next Thursday   when we're talking to Steve Newman,   the world walker.   I had no idea about Steve until I interviewed the ladies at Bethel Historical Society,   which is a really fun episode that I'd suggest you give a listen.   He grew up on Bethel and   one day   decided to literally   walk around the world. And this was in the eighties. And there's some exceptions. Like, he didn't, well, obviously, walk across the ocean. And I don't think he was able to walk through Iran for   geopolitical reasons.  

But I thought this would be a really good interview coming out of election season.   You know, it's it's really easy to get heated about all this political stuff, especially when it's local, and it it really impacts your life. And it's it's really easy to kinda get the blinders on and and focus on that, and it's really easy to forget that lots of places around this world have it a heck of a lot worse than we do.   And it's easy to forget that, and I and I really do believe this.   On balance, people really are generous in their hospital in in hospitable   even in the face of huge cultural and ideological   differences.  

And I think it's also important to remember that I and I firmly believe this too. We live in a really special place   with some exceptional people. Steve grew up here and decided to make his home in Ripley.   Now he probably could have literally lived anywhere in the world he wanted to, but there's something about this part of Ohio that made him want to come back.   So I think it's really good after election season's over,   to just kinda remember this. So   tune in   next week for that.   But today, we are talking to chief Roy Short about the CJ Fed Levy.   We, of course, talk about the levy and why they're asking for it. We also talk a little bit about CJ Fed in general, like, you know, the areas they cover and   things like that. And we get in some pretty helpful fire safety tips. A couple of them I didn't even know.  

So that's that's helpful.   And I really enjoy enjoy talking with chief Short, and we're gonna try to have him back on after the election, at some point, and just talk more about the department, what's going on. And I know they do kind of events and stuff like that. So,   it'd be really nice to hear from him again.   And like all the Levy interviews,   for or against it, whichever you are,   I still think he did a good job of explaining why they need the funds and what they'll be used   for. So alright. That was a bit of a long intro. I hope you stuck in there. So with all of that said, I appreciate you listening, and I hope you enjoy.   We will get started, and I'll start it like I start everything. Why don't you just tell us who you are and what you do? Alright. My name is Roy Short. I am the fire chief for Central Joint Fire District   here in Batavia.  

Excellent.   So you run CJFED.   Can you tell us a little bit about CJFED?  

[00:30:27] Unknown:

The Central Joint Fire EMS District   is a joint fire district   that started in 2002.   Prior to 2002,   the   Batavia Township village of Batavia area was   covered by Batavia Fire and Rescue, covered the village of Batavia and the northern portion of Batavia Township, and the township contracted with BMOP   fire department.   That was a private fire department   that covered the southern part of the township.   That department,   had been in existence since 1940   1949.   With the,   growth in the area, the need to add paid staff, the need to become a paramedic service.   At the time, the   village council, the township trustees   decided that a joint fire district was the cleanest way to merge everyone into one. They put it on the ballot in 2001,   and the people   ultimately voted in the joint fire district.  

So since 2000 April   2002,   the Central Joint Fire EMS District has been the fire department for Batavia Township in the village of Batavia. And how long have you been with CJFED?   I started in 1992   as a volunteer with the BMOP fire department. Mhmm.   Then in   2000,   I was hired full time with Batavia Fire and Rescue. I had been part time with them previously.   And 2002,   when the district started, I   became a part of the district as an existing employee,   started with the district as a captain   in 2004,   became the assistant fire chief, and held that role until April   where the previous chief retired and the, Ford hired me as the new fire chief. Oh, congratulations.  



[00:32:33] Unknown:

Thank you. So this is you've been doing fire and EMS for quite some time.   What is it about it that that you like to do?  

[00:32:43] Unknown:

I started as a volunteer,   worked   as a manager in the retail industry prior to that,   and started as a volunteer. Friend said, hey. Come volunteer with me. It's a it's a good time. Yeah.   So started as a volunteer,   Really enjoyed it. Really piqued my interest.   Never had any family   or anyone in the fire service prior to that. Didn't know much about it, but it really,   I enjoyed it. I love   helping people, having a purpose,  

[00:33:17] Unknown:

and it drew me in, and I never looked back. Yeah. I interviewed a a guy that runs a gym in Batavia. He's a fire EMS guy, and he said it it seems like one of those things that what just once it gets into you, you you just love doing it. It is. It it's, it's either you're either  

[00:33:33] Unknown:

all in or it's not your thing. Yeah.   No gray area. But if you're all in, it grabs a hold of you, and,   and it becomes a life passion. Yeah.  

[00:33:44] Unknown:

So currently   so you you service Batavia Village and Batavia Township. Yes.   How how big is CJFED? Like, how many firemen do you have, any EMS services, stuff like that? The, area we cover being a village and township  

[00:34:00] Unknown:

is just over 42 square miles,   about   27,500   in population.   Mhmm. We operate out of two fire stations.   The one we're currently sitting in at 2401   Old State Route 32 in Batavia   is our administration building in our main station.   Our second station is over on State Route 125   just outside what used to be Amelia. Mhmm.   And,   our staffing model is our minimum is four people on duty at each station per day. Mhmm. We have a total of   33   line firemen that work at twenty four forty eight schedule   and   two   full time chief officers and two part time chief officers.  

[00:34:47] Unknown:

Okay. How many just trucks and stuff like that do you have?  

[00:34:51] Unknown:

We run a primary fire engine out of   Station 10, which is our main station,   and one ambulance.   We also cross staff our ladder truck out of that building, our rescue boats for the lake and the river.   I didn't even think about the the lake. You guys do rescue out there. We do rescue on the lake   and more importantly,   the East Fork Of The Little Miami where the dam starts. Mhmm.   When,   when we have lots of rain and they let water out, it becomes a popular   canoe and kayak destination.   Yeah. And there are lots of trees in there, and oftentimes,   we have to go get people out of the trees. Yeah.  

So you don't get cats out of trees. You you literally get people get trees. Out of trees.   We send,   a portion of our staff every year through swift water training. We just finished that up two weeks ago. It's a week long   swift water class taught by a rescue method from Bowling Green University.  

[00:35:50] Unknown:

Mhmm. So it's it's a dangerous task, but we keep our folks trained. Yeah. My wife and I actually went white water rafting a few times in West Virginia.   And once that water gets going people people look at water, and they think like, oh, it's such a fun time to be on the water. It's extremely dangerous.  

[00:36:06] Unknown:

Water is dangerous. Swift moving water is very dangerous. I'm not forgiving.   At our other station, Station 11, which is over on State Route 125,   we run   primary engine out of that station,   primary medic unit.   The engine is cross staffed with our backup medic unit   and our,   we call it a tender. It's a water tanker. 3,000 gallons of water for areas that are not hydrated. We bring our own water. Yeah. How many areas aren't hydrant?   It's getting less and less Yeah. For us. Yeah. Thank goodness.   As development happens, hydrants are going in, but we have a significant area   over on, the Mount Holly area. Mhmm. Has flush plugs and no hydrants a lot in that area. And then Stone Lake Olive Branch, as you get to the lower end Mhmm. Is not hydrant that there's no water. So what would you say the mix of urban to rural  

[00:37:02] Unknown:

service calls you get? I guess that would be the right way to ask.  

[00:37:06] Unknown:

Majority of our calls are would be typical suburban calls. Mhmm.   Commercial   industry and  

[00:37:13] Unknown:

mostly residential calls. Yeah. Yeah. And what is a typical call? I mean, I I don't see things burning all around me, so I imagine it's mostly EMS type stuff.  

[00:37:22] Unknown:

That 80%   of our calls are EMS.   That's your typical,   chest pain, heart attack, stroke, sick person.   As the elderly population   increases, it's more,   elderly calls, falls. Mhmm.   As far as fire calls,   auto accidents,   fire alarm,   false alarms Yeah.   Are are in increasing  

[00:37:51] Unknown:

increasing number of calls with Are there really? Is there a reason for that, or is it just, like, more people have fire systems in their security systems?  

[00:37:58] Unknown:

More people, newer houses, newer houses are getting fire alarms, more   commercial,   commercial property   mostly has fire alarms and sprinkler systems depending on the size of the Yeah. Of the business. But as more of that moves in, our calls increase. Yeah. And how has since you started here to today,  

[00:38:19] Unknown:

how has the   specifically, CJFED, because I know you started before CJFED.   How has the agency changed, and how has is call volume increased, decreased? What's what's been the the overall trajectory of the agency, I guess you'd say? Our call volume has increased significantly  

[00:38:36] Unknown:

with the with the growth.   So we'll take 2010   as a as a reference point. In 2010,   the district responded to 3,720   calls, fire and EMS.   In 2024,   that number was 6362.   What was the first number?   6362   is our current Current.   With,   3700   20 in 2010.  

[00:39:06] Unknown:

So that's like a It's a 200%?  

[00:39:08] Unknown:

It's a 71   increase in demand in fifteen years. Okay. Is that  

[00:39:13] Unknown:

how would that compare to other, I guess, maybe counties or departments in the county?  

[00:39:18] Unknown:

In the county, we are the third busiest   Mhmm. Slightly behind Miami Township and a little bit more behind Union Township.   So we're the third busiest   agency in the county.   What's   important for people to know   as we get into talking about this levy we've put on,   the two stations that we've talked about that we run out of.   Station 10,   our main station here on 032,   was built in 1984.  

[00:39:52] Unknown:

So that's pretty old.  

[00:39:53] Unknown:

And that was built,   timing put built to that station about the time the Ford plant opened. Mhmm.   The other station we operate out of, Station 11 on State Route 125,   was built   right around 1950.   That's even older.   So there hasn't been a station   added Yeah. In over forty years.  

[00:40:16] Unknown:

So you've been doing  

[00:40:18] Unknown:

getting by with what you've had for forty years? We have been getting by for the last forty years.   With the run increase,   you know, the number of stations haven't increased.   What's really important about that is   as the   area has grown,   when these two stations were   were built and effective, the population   was more in the area of the two stations.   All of the growth,   though it's been all over the area Yeah. The western portion of the township has seen the most growth.   Amelia Olive Branch, Cloth Pike. Mhmm. And that's where a significant number of our calls come from.   That's also our longest response time.  

Okay.   Response time is is significantly   important.   To give you an idea,   standards for fire service   that we try to meet are set by NFPA, the National Fire Protection Agency. They set the standards that we try to achieve. The national standard for response time according to NFPA is five minutes and twenty seconds.   Our average response time total in the district is at seven minutes three seconds. Okay.   What that doesn't tell you is the western portion of the township   that's farthest from our stations and any area north, south, east, or west that's farthest from our station has   longer response times. Our average response time to the developments on the western edge is over ten minutes. Okay.  

So time time is time is everything.   New construction   of homes, for example.   With new construction of homes,   the materials they use to build them are not the same as they did forty, fifty years ago. Yeah. A lot more plastics, and   the,   wood isn't the same. It burns quicker.   The   National Fire Administration   will tell tells us that new construction   homes   can be fully engulfed or flashover   in three to five minutes. Really?  

[00:42:39] Unknown:

And that's just because of the the wood they're using and the plastics and all that stuff. How quick the materials ignite nowadays. What was it like fifty years ago? Do you know? I that'd be an odd stat to have on top of your head. There  

[00:42:51] Unknown:

there are varying statistics   for that, but they put it at 12 to 15 is the number I've most seen. So if researching that, if a brand new house catches fire, it can get fully engulfed in, like, three to five minutes. Fully engulfed in three to five minutes. That's  

[00:43:09] Unknown:

that's kinda wild. I didn't know that at all. That leaves very little time to get out. Yeah. Especially if your response time to the is ten. And tie that to our response times. Yeah. Yeah.   So  

[00:43:23] Unknown:

a large driver for this lobby is to   have the funds to build another fire station to reduce those   response times. Our goal is to, over the ten year of the levy cycle, would be to build two additional stations. Mhmm. But we are promising immediately one. Okay.  

[00:43:42] Unknown:

That'd be a great segue into the levy.   Why don't you just give people an overview of the levy? Like, what it's gonna do with the millage and all that stuff.  

[00:43:51] Unknown:

Okay. Our last levy,   for reference, was in 2010.   And with that levy,   we'll talk about   what we did.   In 2010,   we asked for an additional 2.9 mil levy,   and that was to replace two aging fire engines, two aging EMS units,   replace six heart monitors, and replace our rescue tools for auto accidents and entrapments, what people most commonly refer to as the jaws of life. Yeah.   So   that was   predicted to be   a ten year   levy cycle. Mhmm.   So in that ten years, we accomplished   what we told the people we needed the money for.   And the end of that ten year cycle   puts us at 2,020.  

Mhmm. Well, just as we were evaluating   whether or not we needed   to go back to the taxpayers and ask for   another levy.   What is our growth protection   projections?   How do we keep up with the growth that had happened? It was COVID. Yeah.   Yeah.   So   that was not the time. Nope.   Imagine not. We're getting some questions now with this new levy.   Why did you wait so long? Yeah. Well,   when you look at   the COVID running from   2020,   2021   through 2023   Yeah. That was just not a good time. The administration   didn't feel that was the good time to go to the people. Yeah.  

[00:45:37] Unknown:

And it certainly wasn't. No. So The world's on fire.   Hey. We'd like some more money, by the way.  

[00:45:44] Unknown:

So once that ended, you know, growth   rapidly   ramped back up Yeah. Here in our community.   And   we just kept tightening the belt tighter and tighter and tighter. Mhmm. And that brought us to a point,   at the end mid of last year   to   look at, and put together a strategic plan of what are our needs today and what are our needs for the next ten years. Mhmm. That's where we got into  

[00:46:14] Unknown:

we need a levy. Okay. And what what was the process of actually designing   the levy? How how does somebody get a levy on the ballot, or how did you get a levy on the ballot? How's that work? Well, the first thing we needed to do was determine  

[00:46:29] Unknown:

that we needed one and what we needed one for and   how much is that gonna be. So we put together a strategic plan that the, And is that something somebody could find your strategic plan? Is that available to the public? If they contact us, we can provide them a copy of it.   And it went through   staffing.   Mhmm. Important to note on staffing   was   we are currently,   we are maxed out on our calls per day. Mhmm. We are doing, you know, 16 to 20 calls per day   out of our two stations   with our four primary units and one backup medic unit.   And we're at a point now where   there's oftentimes all of our units are out and our neighboring mutual aid partners are coming in to cover our calls.  

Is that is that a cost for the department when the neighbors come in, or is that just kind of like good good neighborly?   It's not a not a cost. It's,   mutual aid. Okay. They do it for us. We do it for them. Yeah. Yeah. When they get,   when they get three calls at the same time and they can't cover theirs, we go in and back them up as well. It also works for   structure fire calls,   you know, automatic mutual aid. Yeah. We get called for a structure fire. We bring a couple fire engines from our neighboring departments. They do the same. Okay. So it's not like you get a bill from  

[00:47:58] Unknown:

somebody in a different fire department or anything like that? No bill. If you  

[00:48:03] Unknown:

within the mutual aid agreement with all of the fire chiefs in the county, if you   if you're using them beyond what's considered mutual aid Yeah. They can get to a point where they prickly. They can   can ask for some financial compensation.   Which seems fair. I mean, that you know? And the goal is not to get there. Right. Right.   And that is where we're at.  

[00:48:27] Unknown:

So with with the increased calls and the what seems like   I guess you'd I don't know if I'd say short staffed, but   how does that affect your firefighters and your EMS guys? Like, are they run ragged? Or They're  

[00:48:41] Unknown:

run   they are run,  

[00:48:44] Unknown:

I don't wanna say run ragged. I mean, I imagine.  

[00:48:47] Unknown:

They are, they're worked they work a twenty four hour shift, and they are,   they're busy all day. Yeah. All day and all night.   For example,   if you ran the,   calls per day   per staff member,   our staff   are the busiest in the Greater Cincinnati area. Number of calls Like, even with Cincinnati and and all the major metropolitan areas around there? They have more stations and more personnel spreading out the calls. Sure.   For example,   let me make sure I hit my Yeah. Yeah. Right. For example, I told you we are the third busiest in Clermont County   right behind   Miami Township, which   operates out of four fire stations. Yeah. And then Union Township is slightly busier than them, and they run out of six. Yeah. So that's staffing out of four and six stations spreading out those number of calls. And those townships are, I I don't know this for a fact, but they're roughly comparable in size, aren't they? They are I imagine Union's a little bit bigger.  

They're both,   I believe, a little less than square mileage, but more in population. Population. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense.  

[00:50:07] Unknown:

Do you have is it hard to retain firefighters and EMS guys?  

[00:50:12] Unknown:

There are not enough firefighter paramedics in the Greater Cincinnati area. Okay. So retention   is   is key. Yeah.   You have   staff that can   make   couple thousand more dollars going somewhere else. Yeah. So they will leave you in. Go make a couple thousand dollars somewhere else. Yeah. With   not enough new   firefighter, paramedics, and EMTs coming into the service,   the last five years have been   an interesting time as far as, well, we can't re can't attract new folks as much.   What can we do to attract folks from somewhere else? Yeah. So that has driven driven   salary cost up Yeah. To keep your people. We are really fortunate.  

Our 33   line guys,   the majority of our staff has been here.   A lot of them have been here since before 2002.   Okay. And the majority have been here over ten years. Yeah. Our turnover   has been in the   in the newest tier. Yeah. Guys will come in. Young guys will decide, hey. I wanna do that. They'll get certified. You'll hire them.   We   lost one a couple weeks ago, resigned because he took a job with a local cable company. Yeah. This wasn't this wasn't for him. Yeah. There was there was a  

[00:51:42] Unknown:

I worked in the oil field, which is he worked twelve hour shifts, seven days a week. And he'd always get guys like that, and they'd come out, and they work for, like, a week. One guy just left. He said he was doing his laundry and never came back. I'm like, where'd he go? I don't know. He's gone.   Just wasn't for him. You know? There's certain jobs that aren't for certain people.  

[00:52:01] Unknown:

This is a demanding job and an emotional job. Yeah.  

[00:52:05] Unknown:

So it's, it's I imagine much like the because I interviewed   the ladies from child protective services, and I imagine   it's very similar things. You you see tragedy  

[00:52:15] Unknown:

all the time. It is. We often   we often get the calls that they end up taking care of after the fact. Yeah. Yeah. So we see the same. Yeah. Yeah. It's  

[00:52:26] Unknown:

I imagine just as much as it can be a fun job because you know every little boy, like, you know, I wanna drive in a fire truck just as much as it can be fun. It can also be very heartbreaking.   It is very heartbreaking. We are,  

[00:52:37] Unknown:

we're mandatory   reporters by state law for   child Yeah. Yeah. Abuse, elder abuse. So   those are child protection and, adult protective.   Those are our partners. Yeah.  

[00:52:51] Unknown:

So do you wanna get into   what how the effect that the levy will have on the taxes?  

[00:52:56] Unknown:

So what the levy   before we get into the tax effect, let me tell you what  

[00:53:03] Unknown:

what the levy is for. Yes. That'd probably be a good   be a better segue. There we go. In our,  

[00:53:10] Unknown:

in our strategic plan,   we need to add staffing. Mhmm.   Not only do we need to add staffing, we need to retain staffing.   When I told you before we have tightened the belt and done everything we could to to stretch the existing dollars,   one of those items was we were,   lucky enough to be awarded a   FEMA   safer grant, which is a staffing grant.   That   grant allowed us to hire six additional   firefighter EMTs.   For three years,   the grant would pay a 100% of their salaries and benefits.   That's nice. So that was two additional folks per day.   We're coming up on the end of that three years. Yeah.  

That ends in '26.   We do not have the   funding   to maintain those six folks. And with our current volume run volume,   we can't do without them. Yeah.   So   we knew   when we accepted the we're awarded the grant and accepted it that we would need to secure funding to keep that. Sure. So that is that is one one piece of  

[00:54:26] Unknown:

why we in our plan, why we needed the levy and what we needed it for and why we needed it now. Can I ask you real quick before you Sure? Keep going on on what you're gonna do with the with the money?   Do you operate with any other grants, or do you are you regularly writing grants, or how does that work? We write every  

[00:54:43] Unknown:

every grant we can find that we might have a chance to get awarded some money. Yeah.   This past year, all of our   SCBA, which are the air packs and masks that the firemen wear into a   fire. Those   ours were   reaching the end of their life cycle. Mhmm.   So they need it replaced.   They're   they're about   6 to $7,000  

[00:55:13] Unknown:

per unit. Yeah. I was about to I was about to say, I imagine a lot of the equipment isn't cheap.  

[00:55:17] Unknown:

And   we did a   Federal Fire Act grant, and we're successful in getting a grant to cover 90% of the replacement cost for those. Nice.   So like I said, we we look under every rock for additional funding. Yeah. That's the purpose of the question.   We look under every rock and get every dollar we can.   When I was telling you a little about me, I am also a township president. I live in the fire district.   So anywhere we can we can save money, I know the value of that. I'd appreciate it.  

[00:55:53] Unknown:

So what else are you looking to do with the with the money? Okay. We need to add  

[00:55:57] Unknown:

staffing. We need to put more primary units in service.   We need to cut response time. As we talked earlier, seconds matter. That's kind of our our   slogan for the levy, and it's true. We need to cut those response times   to get us to the people as quickly as we can.   Adding staffing alone doesn't do that. It is geographical.   We have to physically be closer   to do that, and you can only accomplish that by adding stations.   So adding stations,   replacing   equipment   in our plan,   our replacement schedule, a frontline   fire truck,  

[00:56:39] Unknown:

for example And I should look at that real fast. I'm gonna take this wire because it keeps knocking your microphone.  

[00:56:45] Unknown:

There we go. Frontline fire truck, for example,   should run   ten years   for us in our volume. Ten years as primary and then ten years as a backup reserve truck   that would go in service if your primary was out for maintenance.   Our two primary fire engines   are now eleven years old. Yeah.   So they need they need replaced.  

[00:57:11] Unknown:

And, actually, this would be a good time for me to ask about because I I think we talked about this on the phone.   Can you talk about   the cost of fire trucks and EMS trucks and what has happened to that over the last couple of years?  

[00:57:24] Unknown:

When we bought the two trucks   eleven years ago that need replaced,   they were $500,000   apiece. Mhmm.   Today, to replace those trucks, they're just over a million dollars apiece. Yeah. So the cost is skyrock. Cost has more than doubled. And that that's not just for the trucks too. Right? That's for parts and That's maintenance and all that. Maintenance. That's the equipment that goes on the trucks. Everything has about doubled in price.   EMS vehicles, which is our ambulances,   they can run seven years as primary, three years as reserve.   We also have two of those that need replaced in the very near future.  

We did replace   one   this past year   and wrote   the check for the truck at about $270,000.   The salesman   told us, our rep, that if you the day we pay for that truck, it took it took over two years from the time we ordered it to getting it. Yeah. Because that's the other thing. Like, times to get these parts and trucks has increased too. Wait time is is running two two plus years on this emergency vehicle.  

[00:58:43] Unknown:

Prior? I think COVID was what kinda sparked some of this. What was it prior to that? Prior to that, you waited  

[00:58:48] Unknown:

six months.  

[00:58:50] Unknown:

Yeah. Not two years. Not two years. Not two years.  

[00:58:54] Unknown:

So the that vehicle, we paid $270,000   for. He told us right there   that day.   If you wanted to order   this truck   today   to have it ready for delivery,   and he said just under two years,   he said the price is now $3.50.  

[00:59:12] Unknown:

Oh,   that is   I   yeah. That that's a dramatic dramatic increase. Dramatic increase.   And it it affects the secondary market too. Right? It does.  

[00:59:27] Unknown:

Supply and demand during COVID,   The build times were even more extended, so the used vehicle market,   those who couldn't wait three years to get one Mhmm. Went to the used vehicle market, and it has really tightened that market as less available. Yeah. Which I think is really hurting the rule, like, specifically rule departments. And the cost   increase of new vehicles   has further   driven that used market down. Yeah. There's not quite the what you would call the the good reliable used vehicles to pick up. Right. Right. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you. You continue on.   So replacing replacing those vehicles and equipment   is a,   is another goal with the levy.  

What we did was   priced started pricing. What is it gonna cost   to replace   the trucks, to replace the ambulances,   to replace   the equipment that's ending its life cycle,   to add staffing,   to retain   the six   off the grant before we added anymore,   and then the two   building two stations.   Also looked at building a training facility within the district. We currently   pay   a yearly fee to use the Loveland Sims   fire department's training live burn training facility in Loveland.   That we have to pay our guys off duty to attend training. If we had one here. It would be more convenient. So we were looking at the cost of a training facility to add to one of the stations.  

[01:01:13] Unknown:

Adding that  

[01:01:16] Unknown:

up, everything we wanted to do in factoring into a ten year cycle   became   more   more funding Mhmm. Than,   than we would be comfortable asking for at one time or more funding than the, we thought the community would be willing to pay for.   So we put together our most urgent needs,   which are   when this levy passes in November,   once the funding comes in, we will immediately add staffing to our two current buildings   To get more units in service,   we can only add what the buildings will hold, but those staff will be earmarked for   new station. We'll begin the process of building at least one new station,   and   they'll be transferred over to there when it opens.  

We will begin the replacement process for the two fire trucks immediately   and   start the   ten year process of when we're replacing our EMS vehicles or ambulances.   Those are the   the paramount needs for the levy. Okay. It's staffing to cover our runs.   We can't   take on any more calls with our current staffing and provide   the same service today that we're providing, which is   which is maxed out. Mhmm.   Without this levy, that will only get worse. Yeah. We'll lose six people on top of it. Yeah.   So this levy is   the most critical levy in my career Yeah. That we need to pass to continue this service for the people.   With that said, we realized the   the residents of the community, they're the voters.  

We can only provide the service that they're that they want. Right.   It's their it's it's their money. It's out of their out of their funds, out of their pockets.   So we are hopeful that   they see in the past we have been   very good, very frugal with their money in the past. We have been, one of the best bargains for a fire department in the area.   Our tax rates have been low.   In Clermont County, they're the lowest for a fully paid fire department.   With the new levy, it puts us in the middle Mhmm. Of all the departments in the county as far as tax millage.   So it only puts us in the middle, not not leading with the highest tax rates. Right. And, you know, we will continue to be good stewards of their money.  



[01:03:58] Unknown:

So what,   what is the the millage that you're proposing or the tax you're proposing?  

[01:04:03] Unknown:

So the   levy we're proposing   is   a newer additional 4.9   mil tax levy.   And   what that   what that does, the millage for the   requested levy is 4.9   mils per $1 of taxable value,   which amounts to $172   for each $100,000   of the county auditor's appraised value. Okay. So it is a $172   per 100,000.  

[01:04:37] Unknown:

Okay.   And you talked about what you what you wanted to do with the levy.   What happens, like, concretely? What happens if it fails and and you don't get the funding?  

[01:04:48] Unknown:

If this levy is not successful in November,   that will be up to the fire district board.  

[01:04:58] Unknown:

Let me explain that. I was like, that was gonna be my next question.  

[01:05:01] Unknown:

You're anticipating the questions. Earlier when we talked about who we were and what the fire district is,   the fire district when it was created,   it's a public   joint fire district,   creates a taxing district for the fire department   that encompasses the township and the village of Batavia. Mhmm.   So by   by   law, when you create that, the makeup of the board who runs the fire district   is elected officials from both of those entities. Mhmm. So we have two   two of the township trustees on our board.   The village places two elected officials on our board. We currently have the mayor and a village council member, and then there is a citizen   at large position Mhmm. That makes the fifth member of the board.  



[01:05:53] Unknown:

Does it is the citizen at large, do they required to be from the township or the villager? You can just be anywhere. They are required to be  

[01:06:00] Unknown:

a resident of the district. Okay. And the township and the village   alternate   choosing   Okay. The person for that position.  

[01:06:10] Unknown:

That seems fair.  

[01:06:13] Unknown:

I can't remember. Oh, yeah. What will happen if if it So that will be a decision made by the fire district board. Okay. What happens if   the preemptive   plan is   we will tighten up and come back in May? Yep. For a to try it again? Try it again to find out   what what the community had the most heartache with Yeah. In November if it wasn't successful and see what we can do to make it more passable for them in May. Okay.   We will   tighten the belt beyond the last loop to get to May. Okay.  

[01:06:57] Unknown:

So if this doesn't pass in November,   we'll hear about this again in May. And   if it doesn't pass in May, it sounds like that might be That's when we will be catastrophe.  

[01:07:07] Unknown:

Yes. That was when we will be forced to begin reducing.   Okay.   And that is,   like I said, I am also a a resident   of the township of the Fire district.   And,   you know, this has been my life's work.   I am passionate about public safety.   I understand the ins and outs   because I've done it for thirty two years. But I can tell you if we get to that point, it will significantly   concern me for the safety of my family, my neighbors, and my community.   Yeah.   Okay.  

[01:07:47] Unknown:

Well, that was kinda gloomy.   Is there anything else about the levy that you wanted to talk about? Because I've got some other non levy questions. But,  

[01:07:58] Unknown:

with   the with the levy,  

[01:08:03] Unknown:

we covered our Oh, I'm I'm sorry. Go ahead.   Because I talked about this on the episode that came out today. There's a bunch of different types of levies, and I think we talked about beforehand. This is an additional levy, so it's not a renewal or a replacement or anything like that. This is an additional levy. The,  

[01:08:21] Unknown:

levies we currently have,   I don't know what you call it, levies we currently have on the tax roll for the residents of the district.   2002 when the district was created was a 5.5   mill levy.   We ran an additional levy of 2.9   mills was our last levy in 2010.   That's an 8.4   mil total   that we're operating   on.   Ballpark, not exact number.   Our 2002   levy of 5.5   mil had an effective rate of   it was up two point two point eight, close to three, I believe,   when we looked at that, and the 2.9   mil in 2010  

[01:09:06] Unknown:

had an effective rate of down to two mils. Right. Because as we were talking about before, the millage actually degrades over time. Yes.  

[01:09:14] Unknown:

So   the 4.9   new additional levy   will bring us to 13.3,   which puts us in the middle if you were comparing what the millage rates for all the departments in the county are. Okay. So if this if this levy does fail in November, it's not like those other levies   disappear or anything. You'll you'll still have funding. We'll still have the funding that we've had last year, the year before, or the year before.  

[01:09:41] Unknown:

Gotcha.   Yeah. I think that's all I have about the levy. Unless there's a unless there's a then I'll give you a chance at the end to to give your final pitch if you want. But, yeah, if there's anything else, that I didn't ask about, please please feel free.   You good? I'm good. Okay. Cool.   So if you don't mind, I'll just ask a couple other non levy related questions. So you talked about   the shortage in in firefighters, and it sounds like   a lot like with maybe manufacturing or trades and things like that,   that it's harder and harder to find   firefighters.  

What would you attribute that to? And I guess what would your pitch be to be a fireman? And I what's that I guess, what's that path like? If I'm an 18 year old kid and I'm I'm thinking, what am I gonna do with my life?   How do I what's my path? Let's go before 18. Okay.  

[01:10:34] Unknown:

What's really interesting now, and this has been around for probably,   let's say, close to twenty years,   in high school,   and we'll talk locally,   the, the Oaks, Great Oaks system.   In high school, as you're becoming a junior,   you can opt to go to   Scarlet Oaks   vocational   school,   and you can take fire and EMS class.   What that does is your junior and senior year of high school, you go through the   fire curriculum. You go through fire one and fire two,   and you go through the,   EMT class. So when you graduate high school, you essentially graduate as a firefighter   two, which is Ohio's requirement to be a full time fireman,   and a certified   emergency medical technician.  

So you're hireable for a full time. Right out of high school. Right out of high school. So what we do is we've had a,   an explorer cadet program   for high school kids that we run here, and a lot of those folks are in that program. So while they're in that program, they're able to   come to training at the firehouse   and   make   some   make some make some calls with us. Depending on the call, they may or may not get out of the truck. Yep. Yep. So we keep them safe first and foremost, but we get them involved at an early age. That's our future firefighters. Mhmm. If you didn't know about it or take advantage of it in high school,   you can contact,   Claremont Brown Educational Center,   the Oaks, Scarlet Oaks,   or go through the Ohio Fire Academy in Reynoldsburg.  

They offer the fire fire one and two classes, the EMT classes.   And then beyond that,   paramedic is a higher level than EMT. Mhmm. And that's that's offered through some of the vocational schools and   Cincinnati State, some of the colleges as well.  

[01:12:41] Unknown:

So what's a career path for a fireman EMT?   What what's that look like?  

[01:12:47] Unknown:

Career path is   get   get certified Mhmm. Take the classes, and then,   a lot of departments will   hire part time Mhmm. Before full time.   And you could hook up with,   one of those departments that do part time, get your feet in the door Mhmm. And,   get some experience to market yourself as a full time.   We do attend,   the career days where at Square Oaks where they're graduating the program,   and they have,   interview days for fire departments. Okay. And we interview those candidates, and we have hired some directly out of the program Oh, nice. And gotten them their experience here.   Very few here you   used to be when more departments were volunteer. Mhmm. You could get in as a volunteer and do that while you're getting   certified and all that stuff. Yes. Getting the education and the certification.  

But as call volume has risen,   no one has the time to,   be up all night, make any calls as a volunteer, and go to their paying job Yeah. Yeah. In the morning. Yeah.   So that's, pushed it more to the paid environment.  

[01:14:05] Unknown:

So what does I imagine this is wouldn't be a rude question because it's probably public knowledge. But what doesn't a fireman, like, in the middle of their career   typically make or an EMT?  

[01:14:16] Unknown:

Middle of their career,   around here.   I'd   say   don't hold me to this, but let's say I'm pretty close.   A firefighter,   paramedic,   probably mid seventies   Mhmm. And a firefighter EMT   mid to high fifties.  

[01:14:35] Unknown:

Okay. And I   I imagine because I talked to Rich Glissant. I don't know which episode you've listened to and haven't.   But there's some pretty decent benefits that come with that too. Right?  

[01:14:47] Unknown:

Benefits are benefits are what you would expect with any public,   police and fire pension system. Yeah. It's a, it's a good retirement system.   Like every other retirement system, the used to have health care benefits at retirement, but they're they're,   getting less and less. Yeah. Yeah. But, good retirement system,   District offers   good health care   plan that, that the firemen, they do pay a portion of. Mhmm.   And the   vacation, sick time,   the standard benefit package.  

[01:15:27] Unknown:

So it's a I guess what I'm getting at is it's a pretty decent job. It's a pretty decent job. Yeah.   And when did when did you typically retire? Because I feel like firemen and EMTs because it's a it's hard on your body.  

[01:15:40] Unknown:

It is.   It's a, now it's   age of 52 and 25 years Mhmm. Of full time service to be eligible to retire.   And that retirement in   at 52   and then purchasing health care   before you're you're eligible for anything in your sixties   Mhmm.   You've gotta   you've gotta pay for that. Yeah. So it's causing a lot of people nowadays to not retire as soon as they are eligible to do that.   But it is, it is a '25   and '52.  

[01:16:18] Unknown:

Okay.   So twenty five years, if I put twenty five years in   regardless of my age,   I can retire. Yes. Because I I think I've seen I've seen this a lot, and I think it's probably a   for me, it would be a draw if somebody told me, like, hey. If you start if you start out as a firefighter at 18   and you put in twenty five years, you're, what, in your mid forties at that point? You have to be 52. Oh, you have to be. So you have to be 52.  

[01:16:45] Unknown:

You have to be 50. You have to be 52. Okay.  

[01:16:49] Unknown:

Probably ten, twelve years ago, it was four 48, and they passed it to 52. 52 is still not a bad because, I mean, you can still have a career after that. I mean Correct. You know? But at 52  

[01:17:01] Unknown:

at 52, you you think, okay. I can retire,   and I can go do something else.  

[01:17:08] Unknown:

There's nothing else I wanna do that I love more than doing what I currently do. Right? That's fair enough. I think the the gym owner of the gym I go to, he's kind of in that boat. It's like, you know, it's a gym, but he's still I think it's Westchester, if I remember correct. Sorry, Josh, if that's wrong.   But he just loves doing what he does. He just  

[01:17:26] Unknown:

loves it. There's there's nothing I could go do that I would have the love or passion for more than what I currently do. Yeah. So I'm gonna do this till I'm done.  

[01:17:35] Unknown:

That's fair enough.   So   how did you get to where you are? What what what did that career path look like if you were a fireman EMT and then now you're running the   department? I What do you have to do for that?  

[01:17:48] Unknown:

I started as   a firefighter EMT,   went and got my paramedic certification   from University of Cincinnati.   When I was looking for a full time fire job,   paramedic was   that you had to be or there were   way more people looking for full time jobs than there were openings. Yeah.   You you would test   and be in a process  

[01:18:21] Unknown:

around here with a 100 other people for that job. Yeah. I had friends in high school that wanted to go into fire and EMS,   and it was tough. There was no no jobs.  

[01:18:31] Unknown:

So I was,   fortunate enough   to,   work full time at BMOP.   That was a private fire company,   and I was working part time with Batavia Fire and Rescue, which was a public   government.   Difference being the private fire company didn't have access to the public benefits of retirement. Yeah. So   I was able to go full time with Batavia Fire and Rescue, start my   career in the pension system,   and   just worked, educated myself,   fire officer classes   to position myself for  

[01:19:13] Unknown:

a for a promotion. Yeah.  

[01:19:15] Unknown:

And became fire captain   and just continued my education   and   built my resume up to apply for the assistant chief's position when one came open and was fortunate enough to get that. And   that is,   where I sat for the last twenty years.   With that position, I was the operations chief, scheduling   employees,   day to day   operations calls,   operating guidelines.   And   I would,   would not be fair if I didn't say that I spent twenty years   working for   what has become my best friend and mentor   who prepared me to be able   to apply for the fire chief's position and ultimately get it.  

[01:20:08] Unknown:

That's awesome.   What is what is the difference between I mean, do you still go on calls or or or is it   are you strapped to a desk now? Is that  

[01:20:20] Unknown:

Fire district is   a little bit different than, say, the township fire department where the township   clerk's office handles the invoices and bills. We have a fiscal officer here Okay.   That handles that, but the fire chief works closely   with that in approving invoices. So it's a little more desk.   Than maybe the majority of the fire chiefs out there   just simply because of that.   But   a lot of operations,   a lot of   desk policy   Mhmm.  

[01:20:57] Unknown:

Work. Do you do you miss being out there? I miss it every day,  

[01:21:03] Unknown:

but still   on call twenty four seven. Yeah. Yeah. And,   any significant   level runs, certainly, the the chief officers and myself, we make those runs. We back up our captains and our lieutenants and make sure that they have what they need to do their job.   But the   make as many runs as as we can we can squeeze out between meetings and Yeah. And, have to work. Do you ever you you ever get hear, like, a call in a meeting and go, like, oh,   I wish I was out there. All the time.   Even even at home, listen to,   listen to all the calls around the county that's going out. Oh, that sounds   that sounds interesting.  

And, you know, we understand that any call we get is is a bad a bad time Yeah.   For for the person involved.   But those,  

[01:21:57] Unknown:

those are the calls that pique our interest because we love what we do. Oh, yeah. I mean, that that's kind of the double edged sword with the work. Right? It's,   you know, it's you're you're you're always showing up to a tragedy. You know? Or at the very least,   I have, a health issue. Like, if somebody's in trouble. Right?  

[01:22:15] Unknown:

But that's what you like doing. You like helping people in trouble. You you hear firemen talk, and they'll they'll talk about, oh, we had a good fire. Yeah. Yeah. Well, any fire is destroying someone's property. That's not a good fire. Right. What they're referencing is, they had a fire   that, had a had a good start on them, but they got there and they were able to quickly put it out and salvage and save as much as possible. Yeah. And  

[01:22:43] Unknown:

doing that is a good fire. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's gotta be kind of funny.   You know? I imagine if people   who weren't in fire and EMS, hurt fire and EMS, that guy's talking about their runs. They think, what are they talk good fire?   There's no such thing. But, you know, it's like any successful thing you do when you're working. It's like  

[01:23:03] Unknown:

we did a good job. So Yeah. And the rewards the rewards   to work in this field, your rewards are   tremendous.   You may not get the   the public pat on the back. Yeah. But the internal rewards, you know, every day you go out and you   you know, we didn't cause the auto accident, but we were able to   get the person out quickly, safely,   treat their injuries, get into the hospital   or to a trauma center as quickly as possible,   and stabilize their situation along the way for a good outcome. Yeah. So   you made a difference. Yeah. You get to that fire and   you   search for anyone left in the house. If you're   get someone out and,   you know, they they live, that's amazing. Yeah. Or you put the fire out quick enough to make the environment livable. So while you're looking for them, you're making it better.  

Any anything we can do to save their their lives and property.   A house that burned, you find out   outside talking to the family what's what's most important to them. And   if they're,   if it's a two story home and the fire is isolated to one side of the house and you find out that there's,   there's treasured pictures or something Mhmm. In another part of the house, you   go and try and gather those things   and bring them out so that the the family can have those items before they get damaged by the heat or smoke or water. Water. I think that's one thing that people don't really realize on a fire. That water The water damage is Yeah. Is as damaging as the heat and the smoke sometimes.  

[01:24:50] Unknown:

So saving things that mean stuff to people, you feel you feel really you are really feeling good about. I was able to do that for them. Yeah. I was reading maybe a couple weeks, I was putting my daughter, she's five, to bed. And she started asking, like, what happens if the house burns? Because, actually, the house we live in burned   down probably   15   ago.   We live in my wife's grandmother's house, and CJ Fed showed up and put the fire out. But my daughter was, what happens if the house burns down? All my toys. Honey, it's gonna be fine. House isn't gonna burn down. And if it does, we'll be fine. Like, we'll get you out. Don't worry about it.   So I might I might have to have you record something for me that I can play for her so so she knows she's not gonna lose all of her toys   if the house catches on fire.  



[01:25:36] Unknown:

We will do our best to to say what's important to her. I will I will bring that message back to little Olive. Hopefully, she'll rest easy. But since you brought it up, if,   hopefully, she knows if your house catches on fire, what her exit routes for the house Oh, we need to work on that because she's on the Second Floor. What's your escape plan is? Where's your meeting place outside?  

[01:25:57] Unknown:

And, we need to do all that.  

[01:25:59] Unknown:

That is really important. Everyone should practice their home fire escape plans.   And if you need   help with that,   contact us at the fire station or stop by, and we will certainly   help you plan that and get you the information so you can do that and practice it with your kids.   Yeah. That is  

[01:26:20] Unknown:

a fire prevention is is one of the most important things we do. Well, that's actually another you you really set me up with these segues. I'm I'm a appreciate   it. What things can you do at home to make sure that your family is safe and your house   has the least possible chance of burning down? Important things you can do at home.  

[01:26:41] Unknown:

Smoke detectors save lives. We've heard that for forever.   Yeah. And almost think people dismiss that comment, but don't dismiss it. It's true. Smoke detectors do save lives. Yeah. Change your batteries twice a year when you change your clock. Change your clock. Change your battery. Test them. Make sure they work.   They will alert you as soon as there's smoke and give you the most amount of time to beat that three to five minute. Yeah. Yeah.  

[01:27:07] Unknown:

Because, yeah, thinking back on that, three to five minutes, that is not a lot of time to get out of a house. That is not a lot of time at all, but that is talking about  

[01:27:16] Unknown:

the fire being   actually cooking and burning Mhmm. Versus   in its starting stage, it's producing some smoke, and you can get alerted that that early with smoke detectors. Yeah.   Sleeping with bedroom doors closed   Not a good idea? Is a great idea. Is a good idea. Is a great idea.   That door will stop heat and smoke transfer into that room.   Houses where   the bedroom door was closed, the hallway could be totally burnt out. If the fire started, say, in a bathroom, the bath is burnt out. The hallway is burnt out, but you the bedroom where the door was open has heat, smoke, maybe even fire damage.   The bedroom where the door was closed,   way less smoke damage, way less heat damage. It does buy you time. It buys you time to get to the window to Mhmm. Alert somebody that you're up there. Sleeping with the bedroom door closed   is   is very important. And do they still tell you to crawl, touch the doorknob, see if it's hot, that kind of stuff? Crawl low and smoke, feel the door before you open it, touch the door, touch the doorknob. Doorknob's made of metal, so it clears the heat a little quicker.  

That way, you know how hot it is on the other side of the door before you open the door and let that superheated air and gas in the room. Because that that I imagine is  

[01:28:36] Unknown:

and I guess if we can back up a little bit, what are actually the because I assume you've   fought fires before. Yes. What are the dynamics of a house fire or structure fire? Like, what what actually   takes place in there? Because I don't think it it's not just like a bonfire. There's a whole bunch of different   variables that you have to consider.  

[01:28:55] Unknown:

The fire will burn based on the amount of available fuel and air. Mhmm. That would the fire triangle or gas? Yeah.   So the fire will start. It will burn. You get super heated gases rise toward the ceiling. Mhmm. And then the more the fire burns, the more the smoking gases accumulate at the ceiling and start coming down toward the floor.   What happens when,   when those gases and smoke and that smoke is filled with toxins?   Nowadays, all of the plastics in the house create even more toxins, which gives   that smoke itself can become fuel when it gets superheated enough that smoke will catch fire. Really? That is what we call carbon in the smoke? Or Yes. That's what we call the flashover   Okay. Where the room will just erupt into a Have you ever seen that?  



[01:29:48] Unknown:

Many times. Is that what's that even like?  

[01:29:51] Unknown:

It's a scary event. I was gonna say it's gotta be a little terrifying. Scary event. That's why we also   crawl Yeah.   To keep out of that superheated   gas and smoke in case that happens. Yeah. And then,   we carry a hose line with us to protect ourselves from that and cool down environment to keep that from happening or put that out when it happens. Yeah. But,   practicing your fire escape drills,   smoke detectors,   doors closed. Those are the important things you can do at home that will that would increase your chances of survival.  

[01:30:27] Unknown:

And this is, well, probably not a completely selfish question because I imagine a lot of people have two stories.   My daughter sleeps on the second story. Should we get some kind of fire ladder, or what's what's the best way of preparing her in case there's a fire? Having a  

[01:30:44] Unknown:

second   means of escape. Your first means would be down the stairs and out the door, obviously. Yeah. So a second means, what if you can't get downstairs?   If you jump from your   if you were to jump from your second story window, okay, maybe you break an arm when you hit the ground. The broken arm's better than being Burned alive.  

[01:31:05] Unknown:

Yeah.  

[01:31:06] Unknown:

But if you had   and a strategically placed room upstairs Mhmm. Where everybody knew that if the smoke and gases were coming up the stairs, that's the farthest remote area. And in that room, you had an escape ladder that you could deploy on the window.   There would be no need to jump everyone to safely climb down. So, absolutely,   on the Second Floor, have an escape ladder.   We have one Yeah. In a in a bedroom upstairs that hooks on the windowsill   Okay. And we could climb down.  

[01:31:38] Unknown:

I I've been talking about my wife about getting one of those, but then I think, you know, it's not gonna be too far till she's 16,  

[01:31:46] Unknown:

very easy way to escape and get in some boy's car.  

[01:31:49] Unknown:

So we're gonna have to think through that one.  

[01:31:53] Unknown:

Is there any other Your your bedroom might be a good place to keep that.   That's that's a good point.   But having one upstairs upstairs in general. Good idea. Yeah. Good idea for you. You don't wanna jump from the second stone. No. You wanna climb down. I yeah. We we all wanna get down safely.  

[01:32:12] Unknown:

Is there any other,   like, fire safety   tips that you would give people?  

[01:32:17] Unknown:

Fire extinguishers. Yeah. Having a fire extinguisher.   Don't try to put a grease fire out with water. Don't put a grease fire out with water. You just splatter the fire and the grease. Yeah.   Fire extinguisher in the kitchen,   great thing to have.   Keep in mind that   if most likely place to need, it's going to be on the stove. Mhmm. So having it   too close to the stove where you might not be able to get to it is a good idea. Yeah.   But, having a fire extinguisher in the kitchen,   great thing to have.   Having a smoke detector   on all levels of your home, bedrooms, and don't forget the garage. Mhmm.  

Where did most fires typically start?   Most fires   residentially, most fires start in the kitchen. Yeah.   Somebody burns something, catches grease.   Grease catches the cabinets above on fire, and it is Somebody tries to throw a bunch of water on it, and it just goes everywhere. It is a kitchen fire. Yeah.  

[01:33:18] Unknown:

Do you guys do any community events, or do you have anything like that that We do,  

[01:33:24] Unknown:

as far as community events,   we   we do the   fire prevention week. Mhmm. We go out to the schools. Captain Wareham is our fire prevention officer, and he sets up and talks to in his kindergarten to third grade at all of our elementary schools every year.   We do,   reading monthly in the elementary schools where the firemen will go in and read to That's cool. The students just to get   involved.   And   a big thing for us is to teach the kids not to be afraid of us. Yeah.   So if they were in a fire and we were looking for them, they're not hiding or running from us. Yeah. I remember in elementary school, they'd show us all the gear. Yes. Because if somebody comes in a big fire dressed up in a big breather, that's terrifying. It is terrifying. So we try to teach them that that that's that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Don't run away, please. Don't run. We do those events. We,   we do the the police night out with the township in the village, show all of our trucks. We'll we'll take advantage of any public gathering to   to   show people what we do and what we have and who we are. We're doing the trunk or treat   at East Fork that's,   sponsored by the highway patrol.  

We just did last weekend at, Rosewood   Subdivision off of Judd. They were having a, like, a cul de sac block party Mhmm. And invited us to stop by. So we took the fire engine up there and showed the kids the the fire truck. I bet the kids love the fire truck. They do. So we take advantage of any of our But adults love the fire truck. I mean, fire trucks are just cool things. It starts with the kids. They would gather around, and they look at everything. And when the kids start waning, the adults Yeah. The kids get down. Kinda wandering over. Like, yeah. What do you got going on here? So it's a it's a great time. And,   we have groups come to the firehouse, and we show the equipment. We have just a family stop by and wanna see the fire trucks, and we encourage that.  

The fire station, the fire trucks,   they belong to the taxpayers. They belong to the residents. Mhmm. So   come see what you own. Yeah.  

[01:35:38] Unknown:

Awesome.   Well, I think   I'm all out of questions, but I do wanna give you the floor for one last rundown of the levy and and promote that and promote whatever you'd like, really. I'll just give you the floor.  

[01:35:50] Unknown:

Well, we'll talk about the levy first. We do have the levy on a ballot on November,   and,   you know, we talked about why we need it. We need to retain the staffing we have.   We need to add additional staffing. We need to add   at least one new fire station to cut those response times, and that's what this levy is all about.   Our equipment is aged. It's a lot of it is our primary trucks are at the age they should be backups in. Mhmm. They are having more and more maintenance issues and out of service time. Our primary ladder truck   is approaching 20 years old.  

Yeah. And that's a $2,000,000   replacement new. Yeah.   So we we are looking for this levy.   I can't   emphasize   enough to the community   how important it is for us to get this passed to   maintain and improve your safety services.   And   we can promise we will continue to be the best stewards of your money. We will try to find every grant opportunity to   to fund for   equipment that we can   without coming to the people.  

[01:37:03] Unknown:

Awesome.   Well,   I think that's that's   successful podcast, and thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate. I think it's just it's important to hear   about these levies, so I appreciate you taking this time. You're very welcome. I I appreciate the  

[01:37:28] Unknown:

opportunity.   Thanks.  

[01:37:30] Unknown:

Well, thank you again to chief Short for sitting down with us and talking about the levy and CJ Fed in general. Like I said in the intro, I really enjoyed talking to him. He's a super nice guy. And we're gonna try to have him back on, just, you know, whenever he's got something new going on at CJ Fed or, you know, just to talk about more fire safety, stuff like that. So thank you again, chief Short. And, like I said, for or against it, I think you did a good job. So let's talk about some events. And the one I'm most excited about is countywide trick or treat. October 31 from six to 8PM all across Clermont County. Most municipalities   and townships, including   Batavia, Bethel, Goshen, Miami Township, Milford, New Richmond, Pierce Township, Union Township, and Williamsburg.  

Observe a six to 8PM   door to door trick or treating, on Halloween night. Check your community's page for any weather updates.   Porch lights on means you're giving out candy. Don't be a Halloween Scrooge.   These kids love candy. I love candy. Parents love candy. I get a dad tax out of all this. It's great. If your porch light's on, that means you're giving out candy. And if you wanna be a Halloween Scrooge, turn your lights off or you might get a trick. Next up, genealogy workshop,   Bluegrass State Research on November 1, one to 3PM at the Doris Wood Branch Library.   You will learn strategies for tracing Kentucky ancestors, things like boundary changes, record gaps, where to find sir sources from a certified genealogist,   Dana Palmer. Free and open to the public. You can attend in person or via Zoom, and it is hosted by the Clermont County Genealogical   Society. Shout out to Paige Craig. We did an interview with her, and it's a really good one. So if you're interested in that, listen to that interview, and, and then head over to Doriswood branch.  

Branch library. Sorry. And this election stuff's gonna kinda run me a little ragged, so I'm sorry if I'm sorry if I sound a little tired. Okay. Let's let's push on. Woman's camping retreat. This is gonna be overnight. November 1 at Shiloh Lock 34 Park. And adults only, 21 and over, overnight at Shiloh Lock 34 and Crooked Run Nature Preserve with choose your own activities that include outdoor skills, a museum tour, canoe float conditions permitting, campfire cooking,   s'mores charcuterie,   yoga, and more. It is free to register, but bring your own camping gear because there are limited yurts. And you do need to preregister,   because space is limited. If that's interesting to you, head over to the park's website where you can do. It. Fields of honor opening   ceremonies, November 1, 08:30AM   to 12PM. This is gonna be in various locations across the county. The Kiwanis Club's fifth annual ceremony opens four fields of honor flag displays across the county   that honor veterans and first responders.  

And if you're interested in more, information about this, check out the episode with Bob Raab. He is heading this effort up for the Kiwanis, and we'll talk about that in that episode so you can learn all all you wanna know about fields of honor. Next, we have the Cincinnati Fall Avant Garde Art and Craft Show,   November 2, 10AM to 4PM at the RSVP Event Center in Loveland. It is a one day jerry show with over 60 makers featuring handmade jewelry, decor, apparel, fine art, seasonal gifts, and seasonal gifts. And there's on-site concessions, so there's so much. It is $3 for admission, but kids 12 and under are free. And a portion of the profee proceeds benefit animal aid non profit, Cuddly.   Great early holiday shopping close to home in Clermont County. And if you go, I'd love to hear a boots on the ground report from that because I have no idea what avant garde crafts   possibly be. I'd I'd probably show this, but, I need to remember this is a PG show. Night hike, the beaver supermoon, November 5, 05:30   to 7PM   at the Crooked Run Nature Preserve. Evening guided hike by the light of November's full beaver moon led by Claire I'm sorry. Led by Clermont Park naturalist.  

Participants will explore the preserve's woods   at dusk, learn about beaver ecology, and look for nocturnal wildlife preparing for winter. It is free, and no registration is required.   Sorry for Chuck. I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry. Okay. Moving on. Flying squirrel night hike, November 6, 06:30 to 07:30PM   at Sycamore Park. This is a guided night walk in the woods   looking for Ohio's   elusive flying squirrels, which I didn't even know Ohio had flying squirrels probably because they're elusive. You will move quietly under the forest canopy to spot these gliding rodents.   And participants made me Nutmeg, a large furry mascot dressed as a flying squirrel, which sounds kinda wild. It is free, but you do need to register, and you can do that at Park's website. And this episode is just full of words that I have no idea how to pronounce.  

Libreacon?   Libreacon.   We'll go with that. Libreacon   twenty twenty five, favorite fandom event. This is gonna be on November 7 from six to 9PM at the Union Township branch library. It is an annual pop culture convention for all ages hosted by the Claremont County Library. Attendees can enjoy cosplay contests, youth teen, and adult categories,   a Stranger Things escape room, trivia games, arts and crafts, and raffle prizes. Special guests in are Bud and Aaron from the Dent Schoolhouse, which is a famous local haunted house. They will be there at 06:15PM   with spooky props and a cute nature printing hike, November 8, 02:30 to 03:30PM   at Clingman Park. It's a family friendly hike where participants craft a textured journal and then collect natural   materials on a guided hike to create one of a kind nature prints. All ages can join the fun of gathering leaves, grasses, and bark to press onto their journal pages. Registration is required, but all materials are provided. And last, walking our way through grief. November 8 at 03:30 to 04:30PM at Sycamore Park. This is a supportive group walk designed for anyone experiencing loss or grief. Participants will hike together on an easy forest trail and share reflections in a safe, nonjudgmental setting. The program emphasizes community connection and emotional healing, which actually sounds like a very nice thing. So that is all the events we have for the week. And a quick note on events, I do the best I can to find as many as I can, but I know I don't get them all. So if you have an event that you would like people to know about or know one of a of an event that you think people should know about, send an email. Info@let'stalkclaremont.com.  

I can't promise I'm gonna put everything in here because I imagine that would make for a very long event section, but I'll do my level best. Alright. Well, that's gonna lead us right to we are a value for value podcast. What that means, if you find value in what we're doing here, we're just gonna ask for a little value in return. It doesn't have to just be money. It can be in the form of time, talent, or treasure. For time and talent, let us know what's going on in your community.   Let us know who you'd like to us to talk to. And if you're interested in high school sports,   send in a high school sports reporter. Go or just get in touch. We'll figure out how to make that. And for treasure, go to the website, www.let's.claremont.com.  

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I would love. Alright. Well, that will wrap up the election season.   Gotta say I'm pretty pretty excited to just go back to normal stuff because I'm a little tired.   But I really appreciate everybody listening, and we will see you next.