Bedford Twp. taps 7 for fire commission

2/5/2003

TEMPERANCE - The Bedford Township Board last night named seven local residents to oversee operations and long-term planning of the township's volunteer fire department, including a retired Toledo deputy chief of the department's fire prevention bureau.

By a vote of 6-1, the board appointed former Deputy Chief Phil Koenigsecker, Kim Hooper, Tim Duncan, Bob Martin, Bill Urbanski, Dr. Joan Duggan, and former Monroe County Commissioner Gail Hauser-Hurley as members of the new Bedford Township Fire Commission.

They join township Trustee Dennis Steinman and Fire Chief John Bofia on the commission. Chief Bofia will be its chairman.

Arnold Jennings voted against the appointments, saying later he preferred expanding the commission by adding three people who also applied. The names of the other three applicants were not disclosed.

Chief Bofia said he intends to break the fire commission up into at least three subcommittees that will study the township's concerns with emergency medical transportation, construction of its new fire station on Lewis Avenue, and a community-wide risk analysis.

The entire commission will make recommendations on the department's annual budget, which is nearly $1 million, Chief Bofia said. Its first meeting will be within the next four weeks.