BEDFORD - (February 24,2022) - The Indiana legislature and Indiana Chamber of Commerce have tried relentlessly over the last several years to eliminate township government.
Shawswick Township Trustee Millard Jones tells the public about proposed staffing of fire department and ambulance service for its residents
But, recently township trustees have played significant roles for their communities with the Indian Creek and Perry Township fighting to keep schools in their community. It was an old role that was on the books in Indiana Code, and both Gary Scherschel, Indian Creek Township Trustee and Bob Phillips, Perry Township Trustee, stepped up to the plate and advocated what their community wanted.
Now ,Shawswick Township Trustee Millard Jones who has served Shawswick Township several years was forced to step up to the plate not only for his township but the people of Lawrence County.
The City of Bedford with a budget of $20 million and Lawrence County Commissioners with a record budget of $28 Million could not address a public safety issue; that has been well known among the government officials for over the last four years.
The lack of a 911 dedicated ambulance service for the residents and the communities, it serves. Shawswick Township budget is far less than the budgets of the bigger government; to which the State legislators wants its community to put its trust in.
In the matter of ambulance coverage, we see that if we wait on county and city government to do it legal and ethical duty to respond to a need; we will still be waiting.
(Shawswick and Guthrie Township officials held a public meeting this week on proposed fire territory and ambulance for its residents)
The residents of Shawswick Township were forced to wait for out of county ambulance services to arrive and transport ill and injured patients to the hospital.
" No one wants to raise taxes, but in this case the time has come for us to address the issues facing our community," said Millard Jones.
The Lawrence County 911 board was talking about the issue since June 2020, however their role is only in the dispatch procedures for the two 911 dispatch centers in Lawrence County. The Lawrence County Commissioners are the ones who must address the issue of ambulance coverage by Indiana State law.
After waiting for more than two years for the county government to at least attempt to address this public safety issue, Lawrence County Commissioners have decided that they could put the issue off for another day.
Thanks to both the Shawswick Township Trustee and Advisory Board they have created a plan to address the issue for the health and safety of its community.
For this we like to commend the township officials for stepping up to the plate and working for the taxpayers of their community. Hopefully, the taxpayers will support your efforts.