New Fire Chief, Assistant Chief Appointed
During its first meeting of 2026, Barnesville Village Council hired a new fire chief and assistant chief, considered whether to purchase a new ambulance and sold a dump truck.
Solicitor Richard Myser on Jan. 12 told council that, following recent retirements, the community lacked both a fire chief and an assistant chief. He said those vacancies could be filled if Mayor Jake Hershberger made the appointments and council approved.
Myser then read Resolution 4039, appointing Robert “Bobby” Froehlich Jr. as chief and Chris Hendershot as assistant chief. Council voted to suspend the rules requiring three public readings of legislation and to declare an emergency. Members then voted unanimously in favor of hiring Froehlich and Hendershot to fill those positions.
Froehlich was not present at the meeting, but Hendershot was in attendance and later reported departmental statistics for December. The fire department performed 33 total runs during the month, with two structure fires, 10 accidents, eight mutual aid calls, five squad assists and eight service calls for situations such as alarms being activated.
The village’s emergency medical service responded to 125 calls to 911 along with four medical transports for WVU Medicine Barnesville Hospital.
Hershberger then broached the topic of the department applying for a $15,000 through the Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office that does not require any matching funds.
“That would help with equipment,” he said.
He said village leaders also needed council’s approval to apply for a second grant through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that would provide up to $10,000 for equipment. He said that grant requires a 50% match. The village hopes to win $8,000 of that funding, which means the village would need to provide a $4,000 match.
“We need to replace our pump on our brush truck,” Hendershot explained.
He said the department also needs some “Indian packs,” which are portable backpacks that contain sprayers with pumps for fighting wild fires, along with backpack blowers to help contain and redirect wild fires.
Council unanimously authorized officials to pursue the grant.
Talk then turned to the possibility of purchasing a new emergency squad. Hershberger opened the discussion, explaining that an ambulance manufacturer had contacted the village several months ago. The company offered to build a squad to the department’s specifications that it would make available when completed but without the village having to commit to any purchase. He said village officials expected to hear that the vehicle was finished in June or July 2026, but they recently were notified that the village must decide whether to buy the squad by Feb. 1. Otherwise, the company will make the vehicle available for sale to anyone.
“We have two ambulances currently,” he continued. “One is under 100,000 miles, and you can see how many miles they put on it each year. One’s over 100,000 already. “
He said the cost of the new squad would be $280,000-$300,000 with an additional $100,000 needed to finish equipping it. He pointed out that it can take 24 to 36 months to have a squad built.
Council members asked if there were problems with the two existing squads and what their life expectancy is.
Squad Capt. Mary Anne Stephens responded, saying both have high mileage and that they run even more than those totals reflect, since they idle a lot at accident scenes and on other calls while waiting to transport patients.
“If something happens to one of them and one of them goes down, we’re in trouble,” she said. “I mean … you know that a lot of times both of our ambulances go out, you know, so especially if it’s like a motor vehicle accident or where there’s mass people, injuries. … It takes two to three years to get an ambulance at our specs. And the biggest thing is, we’ve got to make sure it’ll fit into our building right here.”
She said the department recently spent about $15,000 to replace the turbo in one existing ambulance.
“So, things will start kind of nickel and diming us a little bit,” she added.
While the number of ambulance calls has increased – the department responded to 1,188 medical emergency calls in 2025 – Fiscal Officer Jeannie Hannahs pointed out that the resulting revenue has not increased. She also noted that the village still owes $68,400 on a 2019 model ambulance.
Council did not act on the matter during the Jan. 12 meeting.
In an unrelated matter, council heard the second reading of Resolution 4038, which would authorize the mayor to enter an annexation agreement with Warren Township trustees that would annex 9.443 acres into the village.
There was some discussion of the matter, with Myser showing a map of the property in question. Councilwoman Lindsay Dowdle asked if residents there would be notified of the annexation in advance. Myser said they would not, but added that a public notice would be published.
Warren Township Trustee Jimmy Grear was present and said the trustees have no objection to the annexation and had passed a resolution in support of the plan earlier that evening.
No action was taken by council, so the measure will undergo a third reading at its next meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.
Hershberger gave a Mayor’s Court report for December, noting that the state of Ohio received $492.50, Belmont County received $19.50, and the village received $1,353 for a total of $1,865.
Annual totals for 2025 were: state, $6,890, county $265.50 and the village $18,966.50 for a total of $26,120.
He also set a Water and Sewer Committee meeting for 10:30 a.m. Jan. 22 in Council Chambers.
Council also approved a demolition permit for Hershberger’s brother, Mike, to raze a home at 330 S. Gardner St.
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