Rushford City Council Report: New fire truck on its way

By News Team
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Fri, Jul 28th, 2006
Posted in Government

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Fire Chief Mike Ebner presented the received bids for a new fire truck to the Rushford City Council at their regular meeting July 24. Ebner advocated accepting the bid from Clarey Fire Safety of Rochester; not only did the company have the low bid of $197,227 for the truck and equipment, but Clarey had an excellent track record for servicing the department's vehicles, an essential factor. The only other bidder was a new company less than a year old. Assistant Chief Paul Engrav added that the Pierce trucks sold by Clarey had a "strong presence" in the area and reminded the council the city would only be responsible for half of the cost with neighboring townships contributing the rest.

Ebner told the council the truck, a mate to one currently owned by the department, was a demonstrator with 6200 miles already on it; Ebner considered this a plus since part of the break-in period had already passed. The warranty on the truck will run for ten years beginning when the department takes possession of the truck. The department intends to keep the old truck and sell it rather than trading it in.

Ebner went on to explain that only one proposal had been received so far for the planned addition to the fire hall. The council followed Ebner's suggestions as they accepted the Clarey truck bid and decided to wait for more proposals before making a decision on the addition.

Peak shaving

City Administrator Windy Block reported on efforts by the Electric Utility Commission to educate the public on the need to "shave peak", the need to reduce electric use during peak demand periods. Block went on to tell the council information had been compiled for Rushford Foods, Stumpy's, and Good Shepherd including previous use and costs, current costs, and projected costs if they were under a peak alert rate. Employees of Tri-County Electric will walk through the businesses and suggest ideas for increasing energy efficiency.

Block pointed to the possibility of a 22 to 25 percent savings with on-site generation for the larger businesses and noted that Tri-County Electric could offer some help in purchasing such generators. He relayed Rushford Foods' concern about keeping noise for their residential neighbors to a minimum if they were to go with such generation.

Block declared all electric users, large and small, shared the responsibility for peak shaving and encouraged the council and citizens to pay close attention to the planned public education campaign regarding the issue. With increases in fixed rates from an average $7,093.20 a month under GenSys and $26,382 now under the Tri-County Electric contract, it will be essential for everyone to conserve energy.

Other business

In other business the council:

• heard representatives of the city had met with Rushford Village representatives to discuss the sewer agreement; according to Block, "things are moving in a positive direction" with both entities realizing the current agreement will expire in eight years and now is the time to get the issue clarified;

• learned Block had met with developer Steve Duellman regarding his spec home at 617 Hanover Court and had been told the house would be completed this year;

• listened to Richard Holle's impassioned plea to help save Ferndale Golf Course in which he referred to the 54 high school golf teams and how the experience had enriched their lives and called the course an "excellent business tool" as he reminded the council, "All of our business in the city is tied together!"

• closed the meeting to discuss the Ziegler generator negotiations.

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