A long-time Franklin Township road department employee won praise from the Franklin Township Fire Department for his assistance at the scene of a fire early this month.
Mike Wilcox, acting chief while Chief Rick Howard is on vacation, cited the work of Harold Aldrich who brought in a backhoe to help firefighters extinguish a blaze that had broken out at a vacant residence on Greenleaf around midnight on July 8.
“It was a vacant house and was used for storage,” Wilcox said of the burning house. “All the property was used for storage.”
He said vehicles had been stored on the property and the ground was overgrown with weeds and high grass.
Aldrich responded to the fire with a backhoe to assist firefighters. “He had a hard time getting in there to dismantle the house,” Wilcox said.
Aldrich was able to knock down the burning building and make it easier for firefighters to extinguish the blaze. The house was a total loss, Wilcox said.
Wilcox outlined Aldrich’s assistance at the Franklin Township Trustees meeting June 12.
Trustees also approved the tax budget for the coming year, a plan that shows the township expects to receive $6,891,505. This plan, prepared by fiscal officer Crystal Cook, will be forwarded to the Franklin County Budget Commission, and later used to draw up the operating budget at the end of this year with input from each department.
This coming budget will be the last one Cook prepares since her term expires in April and she is not seeking re-election.
Trustees also expressed appreciation to township residents who contact them with their concerns, but encouraged people who contact them to leave a name, address or phone number.
“We are more than willing to act on complaints,” said trustees chairman Tim Guyton, “but we need the name of the concerned party.”
He explained that the township had recently received a complaint, but the caller had failed to leave a name or number.
“We can understand some people don’t want their name mentioned, and we won’t make it public,” said trustee Don Cook.
“But we can’t respond if they don’t leave us that information,” Guyton said.
The next meeting of the trustees will be July 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the township administration building, 2193 Frank Road. The meeting will be open to the public.
