Boyceville fire district: delayed fire bills causing problems for New Haven
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — Delivery of a $5,000 invoice from the Boyceville fire department for service provided in the Town of New Haven has been delayed and is creating problems for the town board.
The Town of New Haven just received the bill from a structure fire in March along with two car accidents, for which no information was included at all, said Lisa Pederson, representative for the Town of New Haven, at a meeting of the Boyceville Community Fire District Board on December 13.
The information on the car accidents was what the fire department received from Dunn County, said Matt Lunderville, Boyceville fire chief.
Since the bill was so late, the $5,000 house fire from March could not be put on the property tax bill, Pederson said.
The fire bills go out when the information is available, said Laura Ulrich, clerk-treasurer for the fire district.
The fire department held onto this particular bill longer because the investigation was being done by a Department of Justice fire investigator, and there was a delay so the fire investigation could be cleared, Lunderville said.
The Town of New Haven needs more communication so the town could have done something to get the fire bill on the tax roll, Pederson said.
“That’s five grand we don’t have, and that hurts,” she said.
The Town of New Haven must have the costs so the town can contact the family about insurance coverage to pay for the costs, Pederson said.
Could the Town of New Haven take the amount of the fire bill to small claims court? asked Lillian Milune, representative for the Village of Wheeler.
The fact that it was a fatal fire makes it more complicated, said Matt Shepard, chair of the Boyceville fire board and representative for the Town of Tiffany.
New Haven only needed the fire bill, the homeowner’s name and the amount of the invoice, and that information could have been sent before November, Pederson said.
There was delayed mail service, Ulrich said, noting that there are three postmark dates on the envelope because the invoice was sent out, sent back, and then sent out again.
The fire bill was originally mailed in late September, possibly early October. The invoice date is the date it was mailed the first time, and then it ended up delayed by the mail, she said.
It is good to know that all the towns need is the name and address, Lunderville said.
The Town of New Haven also needs names and addresses for car accidents, Pederson said.
Ulrich said she had sent all the information that she had access to concerning the car accidents.
Lunderville said he would contact the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department to see about obtaining more information about the car accidents to which the Boyceville fire department responded in the Town of New Haven.
The Boyceville fire district includes the Villages of Boyceville and Wheeler and the Towns of Hay River, New Haven, Sherman, Stanton and Tiffany.
Chief’s report
The Boyceville fire department has gone on 47 runs so far this year, as of the fire board meeting, and has gone on 14 runs since the last fire board meeting in September, Lunderville reported.
The fire calls included a vehicle fire in Knapp, an apartment fire in Boyceville, a car accident in the Town of New Haven, a smoke alarm in Boyceville, mutual aid for a structure fire in Colfax, two vehicle fires in the Town of Sherman and the Town of Stanton, a traffic accident, another call for a traffic accident that was canceled, mutual aid for a brush fire in the Dunnville Bottoms and a gas alarm at the Dollar General in Boyceville, he said.
The Boyceville fire department participated in a Trunk or Treat for Halloween, provided fire safety education at Tiffany Creek Elementary, and decorated trucks that participated in the Spirit of Christmas, Lunderville said.
The Boyceville Sno Jammers have asked to use the Boyceville fire hall for an ice fishing event in March, which the Sno Jammers have used before, and there is another event scheduled in March for a three-year-old with cancer, he said.
One fire board member asked if the firefighters are still paid when the calls are cancelled.
When the fire call is cancelled, the fire run is not billed out, but the firefighters are still paid, Lunderville said.
In the past, the Boyceville fire department has had problems with many false fire alarms, and “we do not want people to stop showing up because they don’t get paid” if it happens to be a false alarm or a call where it turns out the fire department is not needed, he said.
Other info
Lunderville reported on the snow-plowing contract as well.
The first bid was received from the same contractor as last year, although at a lower price, he said, of $250 for five to seven inches of snow.
A second bid for the snow plowing at the fire station was $275 for one to six inches, and $550 for over six inches, Lunderville said.
The fire department’s new pickup truck will be going to Luck for lights soon. The radio will be taken out of the old truck, a 1979 Ford, and then the old truck will be put up for auction, he said.
The Boyceville firefighters’ association is contributing $5,000 for the lights on the new truck, and the quote was for $4,800, Lunderville said.
The Boyceville Community Fire District Board meets next on March 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Boyceville fire hall.
