Glasgow Fire Department Seeks Funding For New Truck

A new roof, maybe a new truck and a round of new rumors. The Glasgow Fire Department (GFD) has been a part of city council discussion in the last few meetings.

During the Monday, April 20 meeting several members from the fire department showed up to discuss issues that came up during a recent house fire. In the most Monday, May 6 meeting Glasgow Fire Department Chief Brandon Brunelle presented to the city council what the change in ISO (Insurance Service Office) rating might mean to the city businesses and residents, and what the costs of a new truck might be.

SEEKING NEW TRUCK

With two engines and one truck that can be towed for equipment use only, there may be a 10 percent increase on insurance costs for both businesses and residents. Brunelle said on a house like his own, that's an additional $130 a year, but for a large business like the Cottonwood Inn, it could add up to as much as $22,000 a year extra for insurance.

In the most recent meeting Brunelle and Doris Leader, a CPA from CHMS, and an auditor for the city, discussed the city's options. Brunelle explained that there were three engines and one ladder truck during the last ISO rating, since then, things have changed. One truck was traded out, while another truck model from 1976 remains. The engine purchased years ago is a 1997 model and will be due to be replaced soon, as he said most engines have a 25-year lifespan. He explained that the ladder truck they had that broke had maintenance repairs of $60,000 and is as only valued at $15,000.

"This won't go away until the problem is fixed," Brunelle said. "There's been some changes in ISO people, they'll be here to help us and help make things better."

Brunelle told city council that he would be taking a class in Billings to help further educate himself on how the ISO ratings would effect the city and what they could do to improve that rating. The last rating was at a five, that might be moving up to a six. Brunelle said that his goal would be to try and achieve a level four rating.

He also explained to the city the difference in costs between a platform truck (a bucket truck) and a quint truck (ladder truck). A platform truck could cost $1.2, or $1.3 million brand new. A used platform truck could cost around $650,000. The quint truck with a pump, brand new, could cost between $790,000-810,000. He said if they took off some of the equipment they could probably get a new one for $700,000 and if they prepaid they could save between $25,000-30,000. A used quint could range from $360,000-550,000.

Brunelle said that buying a 10-yea-old truck came at a cost, as usually maintenance and repairs were a bit more costly, and the truck life is shorter. He said buying a 10-year-old truck now, would also mean needing to replace two engines around the same time again.

Councilman Stan Ozark asked about the latest purchase of a firetruck in 2009. He asked how much the truck costs and if it was bonded out, the answer from Brunelle, was that the truck cost around $260,000 and was purchased on borrowed funds, not a bond.

Leader gave the city council some funding ideas. She said that the intercap loan program might be a good option. The state program loan rates were currently at 1.25 percent. The loans change yearly, but the changes are slow. She said that figuring a 3.25 percent interest rate, to be safe, added up to a yearly payment of $59,000 for 10 years.

Another option was to raise funding from several tax exempt nonprofits, a total of 62 in Glasgow, that aren't funding the volunteer department. A special improvement district was also discussed, Leader said that a district could possibly raise an additional $250,000.

Leader added that there were different ways to assess locations, like the number of floors, the number of people housed. Brunelle added that square footage was big to assess, as some large spanning structures would need a truck that could span across.

Brunelle requested the council send question to him so he could find answers. He added that they had about $100,000 set aside for a truck and another $45,000 set aside from fundraisers. Leader told the council that when a truck was found they would need the funds immediately available, as they moved quickly.

Ozark asked about the city debt limit and how that might be affected. He also wanted to know how the fire department got voters to approve a new firetruck in the past. Glasgow Police Department Lt. Brien Gault, who also served on the fire department, said that it failed the first time, but the second time they had knocked on doors, and drove the firetruck around so the public could see the condition it was in.

The city council wrapped up the topic and said they would touch on the subject in each council meeting until a solution was found. Brunelle added that the roof was finally going onto the fire hall and they were excited to see the work completed.

FIGHTING CONTROVERSY

During the April 20 meeting several firefighters showed up to voice their opinion during the public comment. Brunelle brought up at that meeting that the house fire on a property owned by Dan Carney had gone well. He explained that the fire started on the back deck and that they did their best to save the property, but Carney had been making slanderous comments about the fire department and there had been talk of suing.

The fire department said that accusations were coming from both Mike and Dan Carney. Brunelle stated that he thought the comments were unfair, especially coming from a former mayor. Dan Carney was present at the meeting and said that the comments hadn't come from him. He said that they were mad at the time of the fire, but never threatened to sue.

"My concerns are about the easements," Carney said.

He said that notification to the power company took a while and that they couldn't get to a pole because there was a fence blocking it. He added that the easement was actually county land, but as someone owns the land, they could put a fence up. He said it was a problem and wanted something to be done, so it wouldn't happen again.

Brian Austin, a volunteer firefighter who was present at the meeting said that the landowner has a horse and he fenced off the area last fall. He said that they now couldn't get back there when they needed to.

"It's never a problem, until it's a problem," Austin said.

Councilman Rod Karst asked if there was a way for both Long Run Fire Department and the GFD could identify the problem areas. Brunelle said that the city wouldn't have access due to the areas being county easements. Public Utilities Director Bob Kompel added that it wasn't the city jurisdiction. Carney suggested talking to the phone and power companies.

A spouse and mother of volunteer firefighters attended the meeting and had notes taken from the comments being spoken to the fire department while they were at the fire. She said that she was told by Mike Carney that his dad was going to sue. She said that the negative comments were inappropriate, especially with a volunteer department. Sarah Johnson was in command at the fire site and Mike Carney allegedly stated she wasn't doing her job right. She noted that while she was at the scene she could see that they were keeping up and doing all they could do.

The city council recognized the hard work of the local firefighters and said they thought the department was doing a job well done.