BV fire district saves $78,000 on sales tax
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCVEVILLE — The Boyceville Community Fire District has saved $78,000 on sales tax for the construction of the new $1.6 million fire station.
The issue of whether the fire district actually saved any money on sales tax has been an ongoing debate, but a representative for Shefchik Builders said at the Boyceville Community Fire District’s Board of Directors meeting February 12 that a $78,000 sales tax credit had been deducted from the bid for the new fire station.
Shefchik Builders, Inc. out of Menomonie emerged as the low bidder at a bid opening for the new fire station in March of 2019 with a bid $1,612,456 for the fire station and $44,692 for the generator.
Part of the ongoing debate over the past year was whether the fire district had saved enough money on sales tax to pay for the generator and whether the sales tax had already been deducted from the low bid by the time the bids were opened.
The fire district issued purchase orders for certain items, allowing the contractor to purchase those items tax exempt, resulting in a 5.5 percent savings on sales tax. Tax exempt items included construction materials for the building.
A credit of $78,000 was taken off the bid, but several change orders were added onto the bid, and the generator was an add-on to the bid, said the representative from Shefchik.
All together, there were two or three change orders for the fire station, but that is “minimal” for a project of this size, he said.
Corey Green, Boyceville fire chief, reported that as of February 1, the Boyceville Community Fire Department had officially moved into the new fire station.
Barn fire
The new fire station was put to the test and passed with flying colors during the barn fire on February 6 in the Town of Hay River, Green told the fire board members.
All together, seven fire departments responded to the fire, and nine tenders (tanker trucks) were filling at the new fire station, two at a time, he said.
The tenders would pull into the station, be filled with water, and then would drive out the bay doors on the back side of the building, Green said.
The new fire engine supplied 48,000 gallons of water to the fire, and another 40,000 gallons of water went out of the new fire station, he said.
“I can’t say enough. It was unreal to have this to work out of,” Green said.
The Boyceville fire department has 34 on the roster, and 18 firefighters responded to the barn fire, he said.
The fire the other night proved that it was essential to build a new fire station, Green said.
“We could not have kept up with the old station,” he said.
The fire was at the Brian and Alicia Hilderman property on 304th Street in the Town of Hay River.
The gear used at the fire was dry in a day and a half at the new station, and the fire hose used was dry in a day, said Tim Fasbender, Boyceville firefighter.
“It’s made it a lot easier,” Green said.
“Everything we’ve been through in the past year has been worth it. I can’t say thank you enough,” Green said.
Agreement
Part of the Boyceville fire board’s business at the February 12 meeting was to approve a new fire district agreement with the municipalities in the fire district.
One of the changes in the agreement was to change a quorum of the fire board from three-quarters of the members to a simple majority, Green said.
That way, if representatives from some of the municipalities cannot make the meeting, a simple majority could still conduct the meeting, he said.
Regarding a quorum, the fire district is already at a disadvantage for three-quarters of the members constituting a quorum since Wheeler has not had any representation at fire board meetings in years, Green noted.
Another change in the agreement is that municipalities cannot use the fire district’s equipment without the approval of the fire chief, he said.
The agreement also stipulates that new members can be accepted into the fire district if three-quarters of the members approve accepting the new member, Green said.
To come into the fire district, a new member would have to pay one-and-half-times the current year’s assessment on equalized property value in the new municipality or by paying an amount that has been negotiated, he said.
The new fire district agreement has been reviewed by an attorney, Green said.
The motion to accept the new agreement as presented was approved unanimously by the members of the Boyceville Community Fire District.
Voting in favor were the Towns of Hay River, New Haven, Stanton, Tiffany, Sherman and the Village of Boyceville.
The Village of Wheeler did not have representation at the meeting.
Other business
In other business, the Boyceville Community Fire District:
• Approved Gilbert Krueger as chair of the fire district board.
• Approved changing the safety officer position at the Boyceville fire department to another lieutenant position.
• Learned that an open house for the new fire station has been scheduled for April 26. More information will be available by the March meeting, but the time has tentatively been set from noon to 4 p.m., Green said.
• Scheduled the next meeting for 6:30 p.m. March 11 at the fire station on Charlotte Street.
Ambulance district
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board of Directors met immediately after the fire board.
As of February 12, the balance in the ambulance service’s checking account was $51,629, while the savings account had $12,135 and the certificate of deposit had $10,000, reported Andrew Kissh, interim director.
Some checks are still outstanding and will be deducted from the $51,629, he said.
Valerie Windsor, the new clerk-treasurer for the fire district, is working on updating Quickbooks and getting the ambulance service accounts in order, Kissh said.
So far this year, as of February 12, the ambulance service has had 26 calls, he said.
One of the board members asked about staffing problems for the ambulance service.
There are 19 EMTs on the roster, and 13 of them are advanced EMTs, and the Boyceville ambulance service must have one advanced EMT on duty for each shift.
Only one advanced EMT lives in town. The others work outside of town, so that makes it more difficult to staff the ambulance station, Kissh said.
The state has been making the classes for advanced EMTs longer, and the technical colleges have been making certification classes for advanced EMTs more expensive, he said.
Many of them at tech school in the fire/paramedic program will get their certification for basic EMT and then are going straight into the paramedic program and skipping the certification for advanced EMT, Kissh said.
Staffing issues are a nationwide problem, Fasbender said.
Increased requirements for certification combined with the fact that people do not volunteer as much as they used to contributes to the problem, he said.
Ambulance services used to have more volunteer members, but now more services are going to having paid EMTs on staff, Fasbender said.
The schooling requirement to go from basic EMT to advanced EMT is about 160 hours.
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board of Directors meets next March 11 immediately after the fire board meeting.