On Tuesday evening Chestnuthill Township signed memorandums of understanding with five other townships in support of its proposed emergency services operation.

Chestnuthill will be submitting a $1.375 million grant request for the project.

The township needs a new West End Fire Company building and is hoping to house its emergency management operations within the building.

The proposed building will also house the West End Community Ambulance.

As part of that project the township has invited Ross, Jackson, Eldred, Polk and Hamilton townships to join a cooperative agreement that would give each of the townships use of the proposed operations center.

The project is in its infancy but the memorandums give each of the signing townships a “seat at the table” to discuss the proposed uses of the center, the staffing needs and the equipment needed to make it a reality.

A memorandum of understanding has also been signed with the Monroe County Control Center inviting it into the process. The proposal is to use the operations center as a backup for the control center’s administrative personnel in the unlikely case the control center is unusable.

It is expected that once the building is complete, the townships share the costs of the equipment needed for the operations center and the upkeep. This would include items such as computer hardware and software, communications equipment, generators and furniture.

Each of the townships that signed the memorandums also provided Chestnuthill with a letter supporting a grant for building the new firehouse.

Chestnuthill has until Sept. 30 to submit an application for a Local Share Account grant. The LSA grants come from money collected by the state from gambling revenue and is distributed to municipalities and community organizations locally for projects.