A tri-county emergency medical services study involving Warren, Crawford and Erie is moving ahead.

The study is under the auspices of the state Department of Community and Economic Development who hired a peer consultant. Commissioner Ben Kafferlin said during Monday’s work session that the county has been hosting the consultant and “giving them all the data they want.”

He said a meeting is set for Wednesday with the Fire Services Committee to allow the consultant to hear from the county’s fire chiefs.

“Consolidation is not something this community wants to hear,” Kafferlin said. “(We) need to know what other options there are for keeping these fire departments staffed.”

BOAT LAUNCH

APPLICATION

Kafferlin said the City of Warren requested $500,000 from the county’s American Rescue Plan funding.

He said his response would raise the specter of a match where the city allocates some funds but acknowledged that not just the city would benefit from this request.

But the scope of the funding isn’t yet clear.

“We’re still parsing out what (it) can be used for,” Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said.

COUNTY WEBSITE

IMPROVEMENTS

Eggleston said that part of the county website’s redevelopment will take it to a .gov address – warrencopa.gov.

The redesign is underway.

“The more we dig into this platform,” Eggleston said, “the better it looks.”

Kafferlin highlighted the security benefits.

Eggleston said it brings a “really need payment portal” and “just a ton of stuff we’ll be able to plug into it. (I) look at it from the respective of trying to reduce foot traffic…. The more we can get it set up the better.”