Turkey Creek Township Trustee Barb Griffith reported Monday the township’s expenses were “running about normal” except for an “unusual” uptick in the number of funerals as of late.

Another fiscal anomaly was the $1,000 paid in March for legal fees which had accumulated for the past several months.

The board addressed several other issues during its brief 10-minute meeting:

• Griffith reported the service provider for repairing gravestones in the township’s cemeteries will schedule the work after July. Meanwhile, several of the most troublesome dying trees have been cut down and removed from various cemeteries.

• Fire Chief Mickey Scott explained he is “getting actual figures and pricing” from vendors for computer tablets to be installed in the department’s ambulances. The technology “will make our ambulances a (wireless) hot spot,” he said. “EKG charts can go right into the computer instead of being printed out.”

• Scott also reported on the need for asphalt repairs at both fire stations. “If we have to choose because of budget restraints,” he said, “I would choose Station 2.” Repairs are needed on the north, west and east sides of the building. Scott saw no need for remediation on the station’s south side “because just cars are parked there and we don’t run the big trucks on that side.”

• The board unanimously approved Scott’s request for a dozen ballistic vests, to be purchased at a total cost of $6,000 from the vendor which also supplies the Syracuse Police Department. The vote echoed the approval by the fire board which met immediately before the advisory board meeting.

• Scott announced the department will participate in Syracuse Safety Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at the Syracuse Community Center. Syracuse Police Department and Indiana Department of Natural Resources will also be on hand for the educational forums. The public is invited to the free event, which will feature the “Save a Life” trailer.

• Scott cautioned the public not to burn leaves, brush, trash or other materials during windy and dry conditions. “Please remember that wind speeds usually increase later in the day and that dry conditions also increase along with the increase in wind speeds,” he said. “Oftentimes flying embers and brands result in a fire away from the point of the actual site where the burning activities initially began. Fires can get out of control very quickly and result in injury and/or damage to property. Please remember, all fires must be attended at all times or extinguished prior to being left unattended.”

He warned individuals can be held liable for injury and damages caused by such a fire and counseled citizens to use common sense. “If you don’t think you should be burning, you shouldn’t be.”

The board will next meet at 7 p.m. Monday, May 11, at Syracuse Town Hall.