The questions started early Friday when Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham's office sent out a press release.

"There's been a lot of talk about leaving and not leaving or other people joining (the Cardinal Joint Fire District), and they all seem to be waiting for the County Auditor's office to do some kind of study," Meacham said over Zoom.

That study would determine how to divvy up the financial assets, funding, etcetera.
Meacham told 21 News he had talked a few months ago with Canfield City Manager David D'Apolito about that possibility.
A possibility that Fire Chief Don Hutchinson doesn't want to see come true.

"It concerns me over my 40 employees if we'll have jobs by the end of the year," Hutchinson said. "Are we even going to have funding?"

But Ohio law says Canfield City Council would have to approve a measure to leave the district for that study to begin.
It's been about a month since talks of a merger between the CJFD and Boardman Fire Department broke down.

"That email was just as much of a surprise to us as it was to you," said Council President Christine Oliver, adding that it's council's position to keep everything - as she described - 'status quo'.

"There is nothing that we have done or talked about in that regard," she said.

So if council has no plans to pass that kind of resolution, we asked Meacham if that makes this all a moot point.

"Exactly," he replied.

Which should put the rumors flying around Canfield about its fire and EMS service to rest.