Cost keeps Rush City fire van from completion

Posted 8/15/01

Cost keeps Rush City fire van from completion

By MaryHelen Swanson

Will the Rush City Fire Department ever get its personnel van completed. It almost appears as if the warrantee will wear off before the work gets done and itís all about money.

Apparently, the cityís budget has about $15,000 for completing the van including such things as inside work of shelving, trays, seats, electrical wiring and the usual emergency vehicle equipment including speaker, siren, and lights. And on the outside, the van needs white reflective tape. The van will be used to transport firefighters, clothing and air tanks to fires. In addition, room is being made to carry the Hurst tool, also.

The city and fire department have been working with General Safety Equipment in Wyoming, MN, on a package that will be within the cityís budget.
But this week at the city council meeting, Fire Chief Bob Carlson presented a letter from General Safety with an ìestimatedî cost for the required work and materials at $37,700.

In addition, General Safety reminded the fire department that ìit would be wise to allow a cushion for unforeseen issues that seem to arise with every project.î

While council is saying the cost must come down, Chief Carlson is saying with the exception of a rear cabinet, everything else is pretty much essential.
He agreed, though, that the price was too high.
Said City Administrator Daniel Hoffman, ìobviously we need to get the price down substantially.î

Other vendors may be considered and the committee set up to work on finishing the van, including Hoffman, Mayor Mike Skalsky and Councilman Mic Louzek, along with Carlson, plans to meet soon to go over the list and decide how the van can be completed within the cityís budget.

An option may be to sell the fire departmentís pickup and include all the equipment it transports in the new van.

Fairground expansion

In a brief discussion, the council talked about the issue of the Chisago County Fair Board purchasing 10 acres to the north of the present fairgrounds. According to Councilman Jerry Janssen, the purchase has been completed with the fair board buying it for $175,000. (At presstime, no fair board officer was available for comment although attempts were made to contact several).

Hoffman noted he had sent a letter to the county commissioners in response to hearing of the proposed purchase and the fact that the fair board was asking the county for financial assistance.
In this letter the city noted that it has been pursuing the expansion of job opportunities and housing, with a relatively low tax base as the driving force.

Considering such, Hoffman wrote in the letter, ìWe appreciate the benefits of having the Fairground in our community and are not suggesting they should leave. However, we do feel that expanding the Fairground further, and removing property from the tax rolls, is not in our best interests....î

Hoffman also noted that in the past several years two community brainstorming processes were conducted and during the economic development portion of both of these sessions the location of the Fairground was identified as an impediment.

He stressed that the findings by those two groups were not meant to be a criticism of the fair board operations or county fair events, but more of a ìwouldnít it be great if the land was availableî approach.

However, since the news of the sale was announced, the council felt there was nothing further to discuss Monday night.

In other city business this week, the council:

ï Accepted the recommendation of the city planning commission to approve a subdivision request by Beverly Enterprises as it is in the process of selling the Carlson House property. Hillcrest Health Care Center wishes to retain most of the parking area that is located east of the Carlson House and north of the nursing home.

The subdivision would give the Carlson House buyer three parking spaces with one temporary space as four are required for the plans for the Carlson House.
Purchaser Carmen Anderson notes that the home will be used as a duplex. Plans are to create a walking bridge across Rush Creek so visitors to the duplex can park on Co. Rd. 30.

ï Established compensation for planning commission members at the rate of $25 per meeting. Up to now, these people have not been compensated for their time at regular or special planning commission meetings.
ï Paid bills in the amount of $475,997.29.

ï Agreed to give $500 to the county Oak Wilt Suppression program. By participating financially, local individuals with oak wilt problems can get assistance with suppression action through the county.

ï Hired Joseph Grundhauser as full-time bartender.

ï Agreed to allow the National Guard to use the Rush City Airport for part of a training program out of Duluth in October. Helicopters will be practicing refueling at the airport.

ï Raised the debt to income ratio for eligibility for a down payment assistant plan for new home buyers to 55 percent. This means that a home buyer applying for this assistance through the city, which comes by way of a state grant, can have debt up to 55 percent including house payment, insurance, and taxes and other debt including car payments, etc. To date, no one has applied for this grant, noted City Administrator Hoffman.