Village of Boyceville looks at new false alarm fees

BOYCEVILLE — The village board discussed increasing the fees for the police and fire departments responding to false alarms in the village. Board member Bud Gilbertson informed the board that his committee was not yet ready to bring this to the board Monday evening because of needed changes in the village’s code book.

Gilbertson did note that it would be recommended that the cost be changed and that the first false alarm call would have no charge, but the second time within one year the charge would be $250.00 and the third time the charge would be $500.00. The board will probably address these new charges at their next regular meeting.

Village President, Gib Kruger repeated his desire that there be no charges for the calls for carbon monoxide devices. He noted that he did not want anyone to hesitate calling for help because of a cost. “We don’t want to find anyone dead because they did not call,” he related.

Editor’s Note: The Family Handyman website makes the following recommendation about Carbon Monoxide Detectors: “if you wonder if your carbon monoxide detectors are worn out, they probably are. CO detectors only have a five to seven-year life. Listing a build date or an expiration day on the label is a fairly new phenomenon. If there’s no date on yours and you can’t remember when you bought it, you’re probably due for a new one.

There are two key things to look for when you buy replacements. First pick a detector with a “fuel-cell electrochemical” sensor. This type is far more sensitive to CO and less prone to false alarms than models from just 10 years ago. Second, experts recommend choosing a model with a digital readout and a “peak level” memory retention feature. If you have small children, consider buying a talking CO detector. A voice warning is more effective than a horn at waking children.

Since carbon monoxide is roughly the same weight as air, it neither rises toward the ceiling nor sinks to the floor. So detectors that don’t have a digital display can be mounted anywhere as long as they’re at least 15 inches below the ceiling.”

Another reminder is that if your detector, including smoke detectors, are battery powered, the batteries should be changed twice a year and should be tested at that time.

In other action at the Village Board meeting, they approved a resolution exempting the village from the county library tax. Gilbertson noted that, “this keeps the village taxpayers from being taxed twice for library services.”

They also approved holding the annual board of review on Thursday, June 23rd and agreed to charge the Food Harvest Ministry a rental fee of $50 a month for the two rooms they use at the Community Center. They also acted on a request from the Police Department to set a fee to access public records. It will include a twenty-five cent charge for each page of reports.

During his report to the board, Police Chief Greg Lamkin noted that one of his officers spent six hours assisting the Eau Claire Police Department during Hillary Clinton’s visit there. His report noted 40 calls for service last month and President Krueger questioned about the 911 hang-ups and asked if they were all from the same person. Lamkin noted that they were not.

Krueger also asked Village Maintenance Head Don Rose about the opening of the bathrooms at Pafko Park. Rose noted that they should be opened soon, weather permitting.