HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 [01] Jan 26
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J é.1n uën~y 26, 1(,)94
Put~suant to due call and notice thet~eof, the Ci ty Counci 1 met jointly
with the St. J'oseph Township Bo¿;'\t~d and membet~s of the Fh~f! Df! pé."'It~t rn ent,
on l-Jedn e sda 'I, ,J a n ui:n~y 26, 199L~ at 8:00 p.m in the St. ,J 0 s e ph Township
Hall.
ç i :ty_ Co u,!lc LJ,., ~1g m b e t~~. P¡-:g. s en!...1.. r'iayot~ Donald "Bud" Re bet~. Counci lO¡'~5
Bob Loso, Stephanie Hazen and Ken Hiemenz. Deputy C 1 et~k J" ud y We yt~en s.
I..9.b!.I!, Boat~Q. ~em~.:J::':.2. E'¡-~esent: Township Supervisor Jet~Dme Salzet~, Joe
Bechtold, and Bet~n i e Schloemt?·r~. Town Cl ed< Anna Reischl.
FU.:.!l CfLmmitteg, !:1?mbe.l:':.§. Pt~ej~J?n'Lt Ken Twit, Keith Gt~ube¡'~, Dave Theisen,
and Ft~an 1-< Loso.
Othet~s Pr~senil Rita Seymour, Lois Vleyet~, Janelle Schneekloth, Bill
Lowell St~. , Steve Deh 1 et~, CUt~t Cotton, trii k e Deutz, Da¡-~t~e 11
Pfannenstein, Ron Sctn~oden, Dennis Pfannenst e in, Randy T ot"bot~g, Neil
Loso, Dan Scher~et~, Gar~y Utsch, Dick Taufen, B¡-~ian O¡-~cutt , T e¡-~t~y Lo so,
Mat~k Wintet~, Mike L.yon, Steve Johnson, Ed 1Y1et"k ling, Jeff K¿:\ t"n i k , Dl,tane
Pfannenstein, Thomas Lowell, Jim ti at~thalet~.
Supet~visot~ Joe Bechtold welcomed evet~yone to the Township Hall and
sté.1'ted that the plXr~pO S e of the meeting was to discuss matt e'r~s of
concet-'n of the F it~ e De pën~t m ent. At this time, Bechtold tUr~ned the
meeting ovet~ to the Fi"~e Committee Boat~d.
Dave Thej,sen i nt t~oduced himself to those pt~esent, along with the F it-, e
De pat~t m ent Committee of Ken Twit, Keith Gt~ubet~ and F¡-~a.n 1-< Loso. Theisen
stated that the Fire Depat~tment has five issues they would like to
cove'r~ tonight.
l.L Chat~Q i nQ fot" Fh~e Call s.
Theisen stated that the F it~e Depat~tment I.mdet~stands thé.'t the City
Counci 1 discussed the possibility of char~ging fo¡-~ t~escue calls.
Me m bet~s of the d e pat~t m ent felt that be f Ot-'e this matt (H~ Wë\S discussed,
it should have been b'r~ought befo'r"e the F it~ e Boat-'d and F it~ e Depa¡-~tment
for consideration.
Councilot~ Loso stated that the item Wë\S not an agenda item, but a
mat t et~ of discussion. He stated that Nhen his family was i::'\SS i st ed by
the t~e sC1.\e squad, they ItJould have paid fO'r~ the se'r~V ices ttn~ough thei¡-~
i nsu'r~ance company. t'Îa 'I Ot~ Re bet~ concl.n~t~ed with Lo!~ 0, and stated that
they we'r-'e just gathet~ing infot~mation.
Keith Gt'I.\be¡-~ stated that the Fit" e Depat't ment felt; t h é.1 t they wet~e
bypassed and it bot h et~ed concet-'ned them. The F i t~e Committee t~equested
that the in the fut I.n~e the COI.mci 1 consult mot~e llJÍ t h the F Ì1"~ e Boa¡-~d.
Hazen stated that the F it~ e Boaj'~d hé."'IS meet with the F it~ e Committee and
t~equested that the F it~ e Depat~t ment met jointly Nith the Council to
discuss matt et~s of mut ual concet~n, and incease communication between
~ the Boat~ds. Hazen sl.q;;¡gest ed that they met in June and Decembe¡-~.
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,J ¿"'\n ua:r'Y i:::6; 1<)')4
gj, C 9J?...t t 0 l'~ un tf:"U~. F i L~ R.t=,p ar~'~ men t
Theisen 'r~equested Fi r-·e Chief Did< Taufen, to br~ i e f J. Y discuss ope 'r' a tin g
cost of the F ir' e D e p a 'r' t men t . Tau-ren stai;ed that the e x pend it I.\'r'e ':> pei-'
capita, per-' j U'r"' i s diet ion ar~e 25 follo\'JS:
st. Joseph City - $ 7. I.f2J Y eat"
st. Joseph T\^Jp - .¡.o 18. 23/year'
St. IrJend e 1 Twp ~ ":þ 13. 17 /ye2:r~
Theisen fe It it \...¡as i m pOr-'t ant to infO'r~m the Boar~d s of the annu¿il
ope t~ <.1 tin 9 costs ü"f' the Fit' e Depat~tment.
ªL 1\1 e vi E q 1.1 i J.J.!'1 ~.Ð:L
The F i 'r~e De par~t m ent is In the pr~ocess of r-' e vie \'J i n 9 the p'r~esent f it~ e
equipment to cJ e t e 'r~ m i n e equipment that ~'J i 11 need to be r-'e p I aced. The
Fit'· e D i =,tr~ i ct cont r~act wi th 8t. l-Jende J. To\'mship ~'J i 1 J. soon expir~e.
In the negotiation phase of the cont'r-'act, the F i r~e De pat··t m ent vJ i 11 need
to build the cost of n e\'J equipment ' .L the cont r~act. Theisen stated
In\.oO
that ~'Jithin the n f2xt fou.·r-' y e ð. 'r-' S the F i r'e Di2 par't m ent ~.¡ i 11 need to look
c"\t pl.wchas i ng a ne~'J p II m p e r-' , tan k e 'r~ , and gr~a s s r~ i g.
H,:'\z en sti..Ü ed that the F i 'r' e Boat~d has, t-' e que s t e d the F i r-'e De pa'r-'t m ent
pì'~e par~e a co rn pr-'eh en 5 i ve plan to include f u t 1.\ r~ e needs and trH? p'r-'oj ect ed
C'ostsu The pl..",n should c· 0 v e 'f'" t h r' e e , five and ten year' pet'i od s.
Bechtold r~ e q I.le S t e d that Theisen br~ i e f ], 'I discuss the 2ippr~O x i mat e cost of
the p'r-'O po S ed e q 1.\ i pm en t . Theisen stated that the total <3.pp'r~OX i mat e cost
of all three pieces is ë:lppr-'0 x i mat e 1 y $260,000. The ¡=- i r-' e D i sh-' i ct has
,~stabl ished an eqlÜpment f !J II d ; \'Jh icl1 has a fund balance of
appt~oximately $180,000. Bechtold expr~e 5 sed concer~n if the fund is
d 'r~ ¿~ i n e d to pl.n~chase one t r~uck.
r'ï r~ e Committee member~s r~ e q l\ est e d that the Counci 1 and Boa r-'d t'i e m b e 'r~ s
s t i:.~t e thei'r' position t~ega¡-'ding the,::,e pl_n'chases. They t~ .? a 1 i z e that the
Boa r~ d s cannot make a decision at this meeting, blJt they 2"r-'e looking fOr~
opinion';; at this time.
1'1 e m be 'r" s of both Boa¡-"d s ag'r"eed that money vJas set aside f Ot~ this
pl.lX'pO s e, and the F i'r'e De par't me nt s h 0 1_\ 1 d pr'epar'e specs fOr' the p 1.\ r-' c has e
of a pumper~. Additionally, they s h 0 I.ll d pr~e pa¡-~e a co m pr~eh en s i ve plan
i 11u s t t'ð,t i ÏI Y t Iï e i'r~ flJt ut-'e needs i..'\nd p'r'oj ect ion s.
~J.. Pl.wchase 9.,..[ ~!~o QJ?t~t...'r'. f Bu i 1 d i.!l9, ª, Ne~^J F i r-'e Ha 11
Theisen st at ed th,,?,t the 1= i t' e Hall cut~t'e n t I 'y' in use \'¡as con st ¡--'I.\Ct ed in
1970, VJh en the F i 'r~e De par-'t m ent only had t h r' e e vehicles. Since that
time the F i'r'e De pat't f1l ent hBS <3.dd ed equipment and t~ e p 1 ace d e,>{isting
e q I.l i pm en t . The F Íi'~ e Hall has becomE.' ve¡--'y Ct~ o\'Jd ed and the De par-'t m ent
has o IJ t g'r'ovm it.
Ken Twit stated that they é\r"E' conce¡-~n ed \'JÌ th the safety of the F i 'r~e
Fight e'r'S, ¿i.S the eqlJipment 1 ;-j ';>0 close that it is v e 'r~ 'I d iff i c 1.\1 t to
move between them. If th€:o equipment \'¡her~e moving out ¿-\nd a fir' e fig h t G 1'-,
~'Jer-'e bet \,¡e en the t 'I" t.\ C k s , it CQI_lId be v e 'r~ y h a z a ì~ d 0 1.\ S . The t'r'uck ch ecl,:.
Page 2'+87
J anl.\at~y ;:::6, 1994
f.ÜSO 1::J'r~ e s e n t a pt~obl em in the ct~owded hall.
Gt~l.\bet~ stated that the F it~ e Depat~t ment has i nct~eased the it~ tt~aining and
education and is in ¿'1 d i 'r~e need fot~ s pac e . All the tt~aining is done in
the ha 11, and the eql.\ipment must be moved out f it~ s t so they can WOt~~< on
the floo'r~. The F it~ e Depat~tment is t~equest i ng aut I') Ot~ i zat ion to s t a t~t
the b¿¡l J. t~olling to constt~uct a new f it~ e hall. If they can do the
g'r~o und wOt~k this summet~, they could possibly place the issue befot~e the
vot et~s in Novembe¡-~ 1994, and bond the issue.
Twit stated that the De pat~t m ent is not looking at building a City
Complex, but a F it~ e Ha 1 J.. Since the Fh~e Hall is funded by a F it~ e
D i s tt~ i ct, including t tH~ e e municipalities, it might be easi(:H~ to sell to
the v ot et~s as a sepat~ate building.
Bechtold and Rebe'r~ agt~eed that the F it~ e Hall should ¡-~emain a sepat~at e
building, and the F it-, e De pat~t m ent shol.tld s t é'.'I t~t looking at opt ions.
Both stated that the Boa¡-~ds cannot act officially at this time to
appt~ove it, but they itJould cet~tainly take it bad< to the it·, Respective
B()at~d s.
Twit t~eq I.\e steel that the Boat~ds clat~i fy theit~ tho'.\ghts on this mat t e¡-~,
as they do not want to expend alot of time and en et~g y if the Boat~ds at"e
not SI,\PpOt~t i ve to this idea.
Bechtold t~e i t et~at ed the i mp01"~tance of p¡-~e pat~ i n g the compt~ehens i ve plan,
and stated that the Tovmsh i p has no object ion.
1't1 a y 01"~ Rebet~ conveyed the same message. As a City Council Me 10 bet~, he
unde'r~stands and sees the need of the F it~ e Depat~tment and encol.waged
them to continue the p¡-~oce s s. The Counci I h¿iS been talking abo ut
constt~uct i ng a new maintenance sh 0 p, but aft ('?t~ the discussion tonight,
it would utilize space bet t et~ to convet~t the F it~ e Hall into a
m¿d nt enance shop and con s t t~uct a new Fi t~e Hé."IlI . The othe¡-~ C()I.\nci 1
Membet~s pt~esent con c 1.\ t~t~ e d.
5) Linnemann Inn
Theisen stated that the last issue is the most sensitive issue and the
most mis1.\nde¡-~stood. The F i t~e Depa¡-~tment was concet~ned with the F it~ e
Chief not being allowed on the pt~ope¡-~ty. A len~lthy discussion followed
on the pt~ocedl.n~e followed by the p¡-~opet~t y o~'met~s f'r~o m sta¡-~t to finish,
and Nh et~e the mis-understandings occl.n~t~ed. The pt~oblems might be
elimin¡:..i:;ed in the fut I.\'r~e by establishing consistent pt~oced tn~e, m,,,d·{Í n g
5 ut~e thé¡t all necessat~'y' pl¿ms ¿H~e submitted befot~e a pet~m it is issued.
It was t~esolved thé.1t the F it~ e Depat~t ment is allowed to come Qnto the
p"~opet~t 'I in the cout~se of theit~ dut ies.
The meeting Nas adjom~ned by consensus at 9:45 p. ITI.
cæ7/:¿~~
Deputy C 1 et~k