Pioneer OKs baby drop-off

The idea has received national and international attention.

Kelsey said the box is padded, heated and equipped with an alarm to alert designated personnel when a baby has been placed inside. Once the box is closed, it automatically locks and emergency responders are immediately alerted, said Kelsey, who brought a demonstration box to Monday’s meeting.

Kelsey is a volunteer firefighter and paramedic with the Woodburn, Indiana Fire Department, which installed a baby box inside its fire station in late April. It’s believed to be the first baby box installed in a fire station in the country. Kelsey said the Pioneer box is believed to be the first of its kind in the state of Ohio.

“We’re encouraged. There are things to work out legally, and with the (Ohio) Department of Health. But it’s a step in the right direction,” Kelsey said after council’s decision.

Kelsey, 43, said she founded Safe Haven Baby Box because of her own personal history as an abandoned baby. She said she selected Pioneer for her proposal because her mother abandoned her very soon after her birth in what is now Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers-Montpelier.

“This is where my life began,” she told The Bryan Times in comments prior to Monday’s council meeting.

Kelsey said the baby box was developed in conjunction with her educational efforts on the Safe Haven Laws, in effect in all 50 states, which allow parents to surrender newborns in safe locations without having to disclose their identity.

Critics contend it makes it too easy to abandon a child. But Kelsey said having the option of a baby box protects the welfare of the child without unfairly punishing the mother.

After Monday’s meeting, both Pioneer Fire Chief Denny Fackler and Police Chief Tim Livengood said they supported the baby boxes. Assistant Fire Chief Don Bertke and his wife, First Responder Supervisor Teresa Bertke, said they will spearhead fundraising efforts for the box.

The baby box could be installed once funds are raised, Kelsey and the Bertkes said.

As also discussed Monday, the village is considering moving the fire station from its current location, 205 S. State St., to property the village recently purchased in the Clear Fork subdivision along East Lynn Street, and several residents of the subdivision registered their protest Monday.

Cindy Kinsman said the station would increase traffic in the neighborhood, decrease home values and with ball fields nearby, potentially put children at risk.

“There are other, better options than that (location),” Kinsman said.

Pioneer Mayor Ed Kidston said no decision has been made yet. He did say the village is expecting to hear a decision on grant funding for the station by the time council meets again, and that outcome could determine the final site and size of the station.

• Council also declined to participate in funding a joint North Central School board meeting room and village council chambers at the new school building. Kidston said he favored the plan, but it died when council declined to make a motion.

Kidston also said the village fire department will no longer service Madison Township after Dec. 31, 2016, unless the township agrees to a contract. Currently, Pioneer provides fire protection to Madison Township without a contract in place.

Kidston said representatives of Madison Township failed to show up for a prearranged meeting to discuss the contract situation prior to Monday’s council meeting.

“They chose not to come. This gives me the opinion they do not want to discuss (a contract),” he said, recommending the village send the township a letter informing them of Pioneer’s decision to suspend fire protection after the end of the year.

“We’re not trying to make money, or take away their fire department. We’re just trying to recoup our costs,” said Kidston. He estimated that cost at about $20,000 annually.