|
By Patrick Tepoorten
The Rush City Council held a
public hearing on Monday night, in advance of passing an ordinance
establishing a minimum $500 fire charge for residents living in Rush
City's fire coverage area. The charge, approved by the council, will
affect residents living in Rush City, all of Rushseba Township and Rock
Creek, as well as those portions of Nessel, Fish Lake, and Royalton
townships that contract with the Rush City Fire Department.
According
to Fire Chief Bob Carlson, a "typical" fire call would be charged the
minimum $500 fee. That figure would increase only if the department was
on scene an extended period of time, which Carlson defined as "days or
weeks," and/or if the department requires special equipment to battle
the fire, such as backhoes, foam, etc.
False alarms and carbon
monoxide (CO) monitor runs would not be subject to the charge, nor
would mutual aid responses by the department. During the public
hearing, Carlson emphasized that no false alarms or CO calls would be
charged, as he was concerned residents would be hesitant to call the
fire department to avoid the charge.
All funds generated by the
fee will by placed in the department's fire equipment fund and, as
Carlson noted, would be used to help the department better serve
residents. Carlson also noted on Tuesday that most fire departments in
Chisago County have a similar ordinance.
Fish Lake Township
Chairperson Bob Carter attended a portion of the public hearing, and
expressed concern about possible charges for fires on a vacant lot.
Carlson responded that fires on vacant lots would be charged to the
ultimate property owner.
Charging for fire calls is not something
new for the city. According to Mayor Jim Ertz, a similar ordinance was
in place until about four years ago. He called the recent lack of such
an ordinance a "deficiency" of the city.
In other news:
•
Bids to create a Web site for the city were reviewed, but no decision
was made. Ertz suggested that, before the city agree to pay someone to
create a site, the school and the Chamber of Commerce should be
contacted about the possibility of combining Web sites.
• Three
local businesses failed a tobacco compliance check according to a
letter from Chisago County Investigator Russ Frank. the Eagles Club and
the Rush City Clark gas station failed compliance for the first time,
and Central Rivers' Co-op failed in 2006 as well. The city elected to
fine both Eagles and Clark $125 for the first offense. If Central
Rivers two failed compliance checks occurred within 12 months,
accounted for in city ordinance, they will receive a fine of $250, but
that had yet to be determined by the city.
• Requests for
proposals (RFP) for city attorney, engineering, and fiscal advisor
services were not acted upon. Instead, a committee was formed to study
the RFPs over the next two weeks. A decision is expected at the next
city council meeting, scheduled for Jan. 28.
The city did choose
Althoff and Nordquist, the single RFP received for accounting services.
As well, the city made no council or official designation changes from
2007 to 2008.
 |
