MANSFIELD — Eric Miller has made it clear the impact of 385 fire hydrants in Mansfield that cannot function properly due to small, aging water lines, some of which are a century old.
“If I tried to pass a law that said firefighters responding to an alarm must sit in their vehicles for three minutes before leaving the fire station, people would say I am crazy,” he has said.
“There are 2,400 structures around the city that may just as well have that three-minute delay while firefighters find a way to get water at the scene of a fire,” said Miller, a local attorney who leads the Mansfield Water Main Initiative that will be back on the ballot March 19.
The group successfully lobbied Mansfield City Council on Dec. 5 to put the 1/4-percent municipal income tax back before voters after it failed in November with 52.76 percent opposing it.
New Mansfield Fire Chief Dan Crow, who took over the department on Dec. 2, will answer questions from the public Thursday about the roles water mains play in fire safety.
Crow’s participation in a meeting in the Community Room at the Mansfield Richland County Public Library, 43 W. 3rd St., from 5 to 6 p.m. was recently announced by the group led by Miller.
But Crow said his Q&A with the public Thursday will be educational, not political.
“I’m here to educate about safety, not to advocate for any legislation,” Crow said in a written statement released by the group.
The four-year income tax, if approved by voters, would generate $17 to $18 million over its lifespan and would help the city begin the process of replacing 53 miles of aging, four-inch water lines in the community.
related reading
Crow, who has been with the department for 18 years, said he recognized resource challenges when he took his new oath of office.
“The biggest challenge is there’s lot of needs and not a lot of resources. That’s something the city deals with in general. What we need to do is be strategic about how we plan,” Crow said Dec. 1.
“That’s going to be my focus from day one … make sure that every investment we put into our operations, our equipment, our stations … has an identifiable and quantifiable return so that we know we are going to provide the highest level of service.
“Our citizens expect that from us. We will be efficient in the resources we have and that we are using it to the best of our ability,” Crow said.
The deadline to register to vote in the March 19 primary is Feb. 20. Early voting begins Feb. 21.
