BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF)

On Tuesday, Belmont County voters will decide the fate of the Cumberland Trail Fire District levy.

They say it’s a six-mill levy, but five mills of that are just a replacement of a current levy.

From the outside, Cumberland Trail’s firehouse looks spacious.

But they say looks are deceiving.

They have nine employees—men and women—on duty at any given time.

But upstairs, there’s only one bunkroom they all have to share.

Downstairs, there’s only one small shower in the corner of the laundry room.

After a fire or a communicable disease call, when they need to decontaminate quickly, they can’t.

“On Friday, the crew went mutual aid with Barton Volunteer Department to help them out, and upon returning back to quarters, three of our employees needed to get decontaminated immediately,” said Chief Tim Hall. “And it took a long duration, almost 35 to 40 minutes, which doesn’t seem like a long time but we want them to get those carcinogens off them as quickly as possible.”

During COVID, they actually set up a makeshift shower in the truck wash bay because they all had to decontaminate so often.

They say the levy would cost, at most, 26 cents a day or about $8 a month.

And that would be for a property with an assessed value of $300,000.

It would be a continuing levy.

The polls open at 6:30 a.m.