Liberty Township

05/18/2026

03/05/2026

The Columbus Zoo has a new plan to avoid paying the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Fire and EMS costs they force on Liberty Township taxpayers. They’re planning to spend hundreds of thousands on their own private ambulance service.

It sounds almost responsible—until you read the actual request for proposals they released.

This private EMS service would only run June through September. That’s just four months out of twelve. There’s zero coverage during Wildlights and no coverage for when their brand-new, year-round aquarium opens. On top of that, it’s likely just one ambulance for a venue that can draw tens of thousands of visitors a day. Their own RFP even admits this could only reduce—not eliminate—their dependence on Liberty Township’s firefighters and EMS.

Even after losing twice in court, the Zoo still won’t sit down with Liberty Township to work this out. They’re choosing to spend much more money than we’ve asked for to cover less of the problem while our taxpayers foot the rest of the bill.

02/20/2026

If you hadn’t heard, a judge reviewed the facts, applied the law, and the Columbus Zoo lost its lawsuit against us. The judge ordered the zoo to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Fire and EMS costs that it’s been pushing onto Liberty Township and Powell taxpayers for years.

But rather than take that loss and finally sit down with us to resolve this issue, the zoo’s response was to stick its head in the sand and appeal. Rather than pay what it owes, the zoo is spending even more money on lawyers—racking up legal fees to fight a ruling it already lost—while our firefighters and EMS workers keep answering calls from the zoo at your expense.

The facts are plain to see. The zoo just refuses to look at them.