POLAND, Ohio - The Western Reserve Joint Fire District is entering a contract with Austintown Township for fire and emergency services.

According to the release, The District Board of Trustees voted to enter into the contract during their March 10 meeting.

The contract is effective July 1, 2021.

The District Board says they decided to make the switch from AMR to a public entity because of technology updates made by Mahoning County and its Board of Commissioners.

They say the new contract will help Poland residents in need because of the county's computer-aided dispatch system that has more efficient call routing and coordinated mutual aid responses between neighboring communities.

Board members say that the new contract will help those in Poland, but updates to the county 911 system are still needed.

Currently police calls are transferred by Boardman Township for the communities of Coitsville, Lowellville, New Middletown and Poland while fire and EMS calls are dispatched by Austintown, Canfield City or AMR.

Board trustees say call transferring for Poland needs to end in the near future and members voted for the County Commissioners to continue their effort to eliminate the transfer of calls in the 911 system.

The Board formally requested that the County Commissioners eliminate the transfers for Poland by the end of 2021.