Boyceville fire district begins preliminary work on finding fire station grants
By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — The newly-appointed Boyceville Community Fire District grant committee has begun collecting information on grants available for building a new fire station.
Dave Bartz, representative for the Town of Tiffany, and Charles Maves, representative for the Town of Sherman, reported on their preliminary work at the Boyceville fire district’s June 14 meeting.
One $50,000 grant for equipment is available that is based on median income, “but we make too much money,” Bartz said.
Corey Scheidler of Cedar Corporation helped Siren obtain a large grant and is searching for block grants that might be available for Boyceville, he said.
Bartz said he had also checked with several other grant sources, including Andersen Corporation and the Otto Bremer Foundation.
AgStar Financial Services has a rural development loan with an interest rate of 3.38 percent adjusted quarterly, which is a lower interest rate than a bank, Bartz said.
AgStar requires a feasibility study. The study costs about $5,000, but AgStar pays for the study, he said.
Maves said he had met with Eric Turner, director of Dunn County Economic Development, and Turner is searching for information and will forward what he finds.
Maves also contacted Dave Cihasky of Five Bugles Design, the architectural firm hired by the Boyceville fire district to design the new fire station.
Five Bugles will provide the numbers needed to apply for the grant but will not write the grant application, Maves said.
“I thought Five Bugles would help write the grant … I was under the impression they did (grant writing),” Maves said.
“There are possibilities out there,” he noted.
“We will keep plugging away,” Bartz said.
Rich Monn, representative from the Town of Stanton and chair of the five-year planning committee, said representatives for Five Bugles were checking with companies that build pre-engineered buildings.
“They said they would get back to me. I’m waiting to hear from them,” he said.
At the April fire board meeting, representatives for Five Bugles Design presented schematic designs for the new fire hall at a cost of $2.3 million and $3.08 million.
The estimated cost of a 12,245 square-foot brick and block building was $3,078,160.
The estimated cost of a 12,245 square-foot metal building was $2,292,221.
Members of the Boyceville Community Fire District Board set a budget of $1 million for the new fire station at the May meeting.
The Boyceville fire district board meets next July 12 at the Boyceville village hall immediately following the Boyceville Community Ambulance District meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Tornado
Matt Feeney, director of the Boyceville ambulance service, reported that May had been busy month with 116 calls for service, including mutual aid to the Chetek area following the tornado May 16.
The National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota, determined the tornado was on the ground for 83 miles over an hour and half and traveled from southeast Polk County to southwest Price County.
One person was killed in a mobile home park near Chetek.
The May 16 tornado was given a EF3 rating with winds of 140 miles per hour and left the longest damage path on record in Wisconsin.
Boyceville EMTs responded to the tornado with Medic 11. Three people were on board the ambulance and three were in the SUV, Feeney said.
Two EMTs remained at the station with the second ambulance, he said.
Before reaching Chetek, the EMTs from Boyceville had to turn around three times because of trees and power lines down in the road, Feeney said.
Dunn County first responders, Colfax and Menomonie also responded to the tornado-stricken area, he said.
Ambulance services and fire departments in this area are members of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, but there is no MABAS in that area, Feeney said.
All available ambulances were asked to respond, he said.
“I’m looking forward to the debriefing,” Feeney said.
