With their budget preparation done, the Turkey Creek fire territory and advisory boards turned their attention Monday to other issues.

The fire territory’s budget expenditures continued to come in under budget, with less than 40 percent of allocations spent through July.

The run report for July indicates the Turkey Creek Fire Territory responded to 112 calls, 12 for fire and 100 for EMS services. June’s run total was 106. The department has made 739 emergency runs so far in 2014, 103 for fire and 636 EMS calls.

Syracuse Fire Chief Mickey Scott reported his department is continuing to give away battery operated carbon monoxide detectors.

Noting “CO poisoning is the number one cause of accidental poisoning in the United States,” Scott said, “we are hoping that someday everyone will have at least one carbon monoxide detector in their home.”

Indiana is not one of the 22 states requiring such alarms in residences and other buildings, but Scott said his department “will support such legislation if it is brought up.”

Anyone interested may call Turkey Creek Fire Station 1 at 574-457-4100 or Station 2 at 574-457-5507 to obtain a free detector.

Renovation of station one is nearing completion, but the boards and Scott expressed concern about delays in the project, which the contractor was contractually bound to finish no later than July 10. The contractor originally offered a time line with a June completion date.

The contract provides for a 10 percent retainage fee (approximately $45,000) to be withheld by the township until the work is substantially complete. Township Trustee Barb Griffith reported about 85 percent of the construction charges have been paid to date.

Scott will meet with the contractor Friday, and said he hopes the project will be completed by the end of the month.

Scott also issued a public service announcement at the meetings. “We would like to remind everyone that there is a box with an automatic 911 telephone inside that is located outside the front door of both fire stations to be utilized during an emergency, if necessary,” he said. “These telephones do not have push buttons with numbers as they automatically connect to 911 only.”

Scott explained the reason for the phones. “Remember, we are not necessarily always at the fire station as we could be away at another emergency.”

The advisory board made an administrative adjustment by removing former board member Arlen Bobeck as a signatory to the township’s bank account and adding current member Dennis Darr.

The board also passed a resolution to exchange quitclaim deeds to correct a decades-old faulty survey involving the cemetery on County Line Road. The half-acre plot was wrongly designated to lie west of its actual location. The deeds will align the properties with their correct owners.

Township attorney David Cates, however, advised no exchange take place until a title company verifies there are no encumbrances on the eastern parcel.

The fire department will conduct its annual MDA Fill-the-Boot drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at the intersection of South Huntington Street and Pickwick Drive.

The boards will next meet at Syracuse Town Hall Monday, Sept. 8. The fire board will meet at 6:45 p.m. with the advisory board scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.