MANSFIELD — Mansfield Fire Chief Dan Crow said the first five to 10 minutes are critical in battling a structure fire.
Based on the fact there are about 385 fire hydrants in the city that don’t function properly due to aging, small water lines — that means some of those initial minutes may be spent finding and hooking up to a decent water supply near 2,400 structures in Mansfield.
That’s one of the reasons behind the Mansfield Water Main Initiative, a local group of residents pushing for passage on March 19 of a four-year, quarter-percent municipal income tax increase — funds from which can only be used to replace water lines around the city.
Local attorney Eric Miller, who leads the group pushing the water main initiative, said the money will help begin the process of replacing nearly 58 miles of century-old 4-inch water mains.
Miller, who led the successful Pothole Haters Tax 40 years ago that funds street resurfacing programs in the city each year, has said there are 385 fire hydrants in Mansfield that cannot function properly due to the aging, small water lines, impacting 2,400 structures.
Crow, while not coming out and endorsing the tax issue, explained in January why the department needs all the water it can get at a fire.
His department responded to more than 200 fire calls in 2022, including 71 building fires.
“The first five to 10 minutes of that fire are the ones that really count. Those are the minutes that are really going to make sure that it’s gonna be a successful operation, or it’s going to be one where we’re going to have a big loss,” Crow said.
“The water supply that we need immediately for that fire is crucial. The number of hydrants that we have in the city that are either low-flow or no -flow is significant.
“That does create a hindrance because as we arrive, we’re finding ourselves in situations where we have to abandon that closest hydrant and look for another water main that has sufficient water for us to do what we need to do,” the chief said.
“That’s going to cause a delay. And a lot of times it pushes us out of that five- to 10-minute window where it really matters for us to have all the people inside the building, doing fire-fighting activities, and not driving down the road looking for the next hydrant,” Crow said.
If approved, the tax would generate $17 to $18 million over its lifespan and would help the city begin the process of replacing 53 miles of aging, 4-inch water lines in the community.
City engineer Bob Bianchi has said that amount of money would replace about 13 miles of the aging, small mains.
“It would take about four cycles (of the four-year tax) to replace all of our 4-inch mains,” he said.
The issue failed narrowly in November 2023 with 52.7 percent (5,865 votes) against to 47.3 percent (5,215) in favor.
The closeness of that decision when only 40.6 percent of the city’s 28,649 eligible voters cast ballots helped Miller and his team to convince Mansfield City Council to put it back on the ballot again.
Council member Phil Scott said in December that continued population growth in Columbus and central Ohio will lead to potential growth in Mansfield.
“But who is going to want to come to Mansfield if half of our water mains and fire hydrants don’t work?” he asked.
“When school levies fail, they put it back on the ballot. We can argue about the logistics. Should it be a signature initiative? Should it be the City Council putting it on?
“But the bottom line is, it needs to be put on and hopefully we can promote it and it can get passed,” Scott said.
After council made the decision in December, Miller vowed his group would redouble its efforts to convince residents of the need for the tax.
“We’ll do more door-to-door and we’ll put more emphasis on social media. Everyone who was originally involved in the campaign was in their 70s and none of us had a Facebook page. We didn’t know what Instagram or TikTok was.
“This time around, we’re going to make use of that media and just do more door-to-door and then just generally keep up the educational process,” Miller said.
This time, the group does have a Facebook page and a TikTok account, all with messaging about the need for the tax to pass.
It has also created an informational graphic on the issue that can be found here.
Miller has stressed the fairness of the income tax issue.
“If you make $40,000 per year, this tax will cost you $100 a year. That’s $2 a week,” he said.
“If you work part-time, it will cost you a nickel every time you make $20. If you live off Social Security or a pension, this tax costs you nothing,” he said.