Council reinstates old firefighter limits

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
After hearing from its fire chief, the Hillsboro City Council at a special meeting Thursday reinstated previous residential requirements for its volunteer firefighters.

At its Nov. 21 meeting, the council had agreed to require volunteers to live within five minutes of the fire station to ensure prompt response.

It was noted at the previous meeting that volunteers for the local ambulance crew are required to respond to an emergency call within five minutes.

But Fire Chief Ben Steketee said having firefighters live within a five-minute distance isn’t necessary-and not always desirable.

One current volunteer lives along the border of the department’s protection area. Steketee said even though that volunteer could not make it from his home to Hillsboro in five minutes, there have been occasions when the volunteer has been the first respondent to fires in that part of the protection area.

Further, Steketee said, when he is not at home, the volunteer carries his gear in his truck and has frequently been one of the first respondents to the Hillsboro fire station when an alarm has sounded.

Steketee said he appreciated the intent of the council’s recent decision, but he was satisfied that his current volunteers are able to serve effectively under the previous guideline of living “within the Hillsboro fire protection area.”

Steketee also noted that while ambulance volunteers are required to be within a response time of five minutes, they are also paid to be “on call” during their designated shift times.

Firefighters are not paid to be on call.

In other fire department business, Steketee reported the township fire board is prepared to purchase a new pumper truck for the Hillsboro department, but that the size of new pumper trucks exceeds the space currently available at the local station.

Steketee said the township’s old pumper truck has been “in need of replacement for years now,” and recently became inoperative for duty. The cost to repair the truck is estimated at $25,000.

The issue for the council was how to secure adequate space for the department’s trucks and equipment.

A new truck could temporarily be located, with some inconvenience, at the city-owned former AMPI building located about five to six blocks away from the fire station.

But Steketee inquired about the city’s long-term plan for facilities.

Council members said the city does not have adequate funds at present to build a new facility for the fire department. The best option at present is the hope the city would qualify for grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Administration-but the grant is limited to the expansion of present facilities. A new facility would not qualify for funding.

Steketee was authorized to tell the township board to order a new truck, and in the meantime investigate if he can secure a loaner truck for department use, even if the truck needs to be stored for the time being at the AMPI building.

In a final matter of business, Steketee received approval from the council to add Rachel Pederson to the city’s volunteer crew.

He said Pederson, a recent Tabor College graduate, had attended every recent training session and had proven herself to be prepared to meet the physical challenges of the job.

Other business

In other business, the council:

heard from representatives of the Fee Insurance Group of Hutchinson, as a fourth candidate to be named the city’s insurance broker. The council was expected to make its choice at the Dec. 5 meeting.

heard that 22 people, mostly local business, industrial and city leaders, attended an informational meeting Nov. 28 with representatives from the Rural Development Administration, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The purpose of the meeting was to orient local leaders to Rural Development programs that might aid in the creation of housing options that could attract more residents to the community.

heard from Garret about a meeting of the Heritage Trust Fund that he and other city representatives recently attended. The hope is that the city might received grant money from Heritage Trust that would enable the city to repair chimneys and replace the nearly 100-year-old roof on the historic Schaeffler House.

Mayor Delores Dalke said interior damage caused by the current roof is clearly visible and something needs to be done to prevent further deterioration of the structure.

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