LIBERTY — Township trustees have approved a new three-year agreement with the local firefighters’ union that grants a 2 percent pay increase per year for its 15 full-time members.

Trustees at their organizational meeting last week approved the new contract with the International Association of Firefighters.

Fiscal Officer Matthew Connelly said the contract is retroactive to Jan. 1 and runs through December 2025 with a 2 percent pay increase per year. Connelly said the fire department payroll is more than $1 million annually.

Wages of fire captains will be $29.21 per hour in 2023, $29.79 in 2024, and $30.39 in 2025. Fire lieutenants will be $27.01 in 2023, $27.55 in 2024, and $28.10 in 2025.

He said the township has agreed to pick up any insurance increase from last year so no employees receive that increase in their paychecks.

Connelly said the hours for part-time staff was increased from 1,500 t0 1,800 per year as per the Ohio Revised Code. He said the part-timers can work on average up to 38 hours per week but can’t go over 1,800 hours per year.

He said the township also has agreed to reimburse the paramedics after they obtain their paramedic certification by paying them $3,000 for three years to help cover costs for training and classes.

Fire Chief Doug Theobald said the fire department is the second busiest in Trumbull County after Howland.

In other business, Julie Green, director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, spoke about the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna and noted that since Liberty is within the radius of the air base, certain guidelines need to be in place in the zoning code, such as no building in the township can be higher than 500 feet because of planes coming in and out of the air base.

Trustees are aware of the guidelines and plan to pass motions to update the zoning codes, Connelly said.

Also, trustees gave their approval for all funds received from the police department traffic camera program to have 50 percent placed into the police fund to be used for overtime reimbursement and the other 50 percent into the general fund.

Connelly said for the police department tow yard, funds from the sale of vehicles will go 80 percent into the police fund and 20 percent into the general fund. The township has a policy for internet auction of vehicles from the tow yard through govdeals.com and Knight’s Auction.

He said if cars are left and not claimed in the tow yard, the township can proceed to auction them.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com