Turkey Creek Fire Chief Mickey Scott, right, presents retiring township advisory and fire board member Tom Hoover with a gift of appreciation for his service on the boards. “I will hate to see you leave,” said Scott. Photo by Ray Balogh.

By Ray Balogh
InkFeeNews

SYRACUSE — Turkey Creek Township advisory board Monday, Sept. 13, approved its 2022 proposed budget totaling $2,880,491 for township and fire territory expenditures. A budget adoption vote is scheduled for the Monday, Oct. 11, meeting.

In other news, Tom Hoover retired from membership on the advisory board and the Turkey Creek fire board.

He thanked the other board members and other officials he “had the pleasure to work with. I appreciate every one of you,” he said.

Fire Chief Mickey Scott, on behalf of his department, presented Hoover with a commemorative fringed blanket.

“I will hate to see you leave,” he told Hoover.

Fire Board

Scott presented his August report:

• With two-thirds of the calendar year elapsed, the department has spent just over 50% of its allotted budget.

• The department responded to 37 fire and 120 EMS calls during the month. The territory suffered an estimated $215,000 in property loss from fires of a house, barn and horse trailer with living quarters.

Turkey Creek Fire Chief Mickey Scott displays to fire board members the flag of honor and remembrance donated to the department at the 9/11 ceremony in Syracuse. He explained that each color and symbol carries a specific meaning in honoring the service and sacrifice of first responders, firefighters and law enforcement officers. He said the department will fly the flag over Fire Station 1 in downtown Syracuse. Photo by Ray Balogh.

• Department personnel completed 286 hours of training on topics such as underwater firefighter survival, roof rescue, relay pumping setup, HAZMAT overview, drug administration and patient data exchange.

• An American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR class is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, at Fire Station 1, 402 N. Huntington St., Syracuse. The class is free and the public is invited to attend. To sign up, or for more information, call (574) 457-4100.

Scott also reported, “Currently we are being notified almost daily that one or more of the local hospitals in our area is going on diversion and not accepting patients until further notice.

“During this time only certain types of patients are being accepted at the hospitals on diversion until we are notified otherwise.”

He requested the public’s understanding of a situation beyond the department’s control.

“We would ask, when we respond to medical emergencies, people understand we may not be able to transport a person to the hospital they want to go to and we could be forced to transport them to a different hospital.

“Please understand we will do the best we can to transport a patient to the closest appropriate hospital that is accepting patients.”

Scott ended his presentation by displaying an “Honor and Sacrifice” flag given to the department after its 9/11 ceremony Saturday.

The flag was donated by local citizen John Butler through the nonprofit Honor and Remember Inc.

“Every color and symbol on the flag has a meaning,” said Scott, “and honors first responders, law enforcement and firefighters,” including those who died in the line of duty. Scott said the flag will fly over Station 1.

Township Board

Township Trustee Julie Close presented her office’s financial report for August. During the month the trustee’s office disbursed poor relief of $500 for rent and $899.49 in utilities.

No expenditure was recorded for food disbursements because the vendor, Neighborhood Fresh, had not yet submitted a statement for the month.

The fire board will next meet at 6:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 11, in Syracuse Town Hall. The township advisory board will meet at 7 p.m.