Trustees handle financial, MTFR, cemetery business
- Published: September 4, 2026
At its regular meeting Monday, Aug. 17, the Miami Township Board of Trustees moved through a relatively light agenda, approving a new part-time EMT and the sale of two aging Miami Township Fire-Rescue vehicles. Trustees also heard updates on Township finances and the opening of Pine Forest Cemetery.
Fire Chief James Cannell announced that a new medic unit has arrived ahead of schedule — “kind of unusual for things to happen like that,” he said — and is slated to receive lettering and graphics next week.
Trustees unanimously approved the hiring of David Hamilton as a part-time EMT. Hamilton, a second-year pre-med student at Cedarville University from Dover, Delaware, recently received Ohio reciprocity for his Delaware EMT certification and told Cannell he hopes to gain patient-care experience while on the job with MTFR. The board also approved the sale of an out-of-service ambulance to a school, where it will be used for EMT training.
Cannell said MTFR is currently awaiting word on the status of two FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant applications: one for replacement self-contained breathing apparatus equipment, and another intended to support a fire-prevention program for two years.
In her fiscal officer’s report, Cyndi Pauwels said she had released nearly $26,000 in previously encumbered township funds after working with the state’s Uniform Accounting Network to address employee health and dental insurance withholdings that had not been properly disbursed over roughly the previous year and a half. Pauwels said she will next turn her attention to outstanding checks and payments.
Trustees also briefly discussed Pine Forest Cemetery, where Trustee Lori Askeland said several people have expressed interest in burial space. Trustee Chair Marilan Moir said the cemetery’s anticipated September opening has been pushed back, likely to October, as pricing for plots is finalized.
At meeting’s end, Askeland proposed a set of board policies aimed at encouraging trustees to request information directly from staff or one another before filing formal public records requests, and to respond promptly when colleagues are arranging special meetings or sharing township information. She said the proposal is not intended to limit trustees’ legal right to request public records, but that routing routine trustee requests through the Township’s public records officer, can be “a very inefficient and noncollegial way of communicating.”
“It requires [the public records officer] to act as the secretary for the board, which isn’t their role,” Askeland said.
Pauwels recommended that the policies be rewritten to reflect wording changes made during discussion before voting; Askeland agreed to bring an updated version back at a future meeting.
Trustees also scheduled a budget work session for Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 1 p.m., when they plan to discuss next year’s administrative staffing, major road-department equipment purchases, updated revenue projections and carryovers.
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