Overview of Mill Levy Proposal
Resident’s of the Fire Service Area approved a mil levy to make significant improvements to the capital and operational budgets of the fire department.
The board adopted a plan focused on improving these areas. (1) building the Cottonwood Training/Station near the Anderson School (sharing costs with the Sourdough Fire District); and (2) upgrading our equipment and purchasing a second fire truck.
Where We Are Today
We've realized considerable cost saving primarily due to a lower interest rate (5% vs. 7%) and the increased value of our mil. In sum, we're able to do more that we anticipated a year ago while staying with our budget constraints. For example:
We've changed the configuration of our fire trucks. Improvements in the industry allowed us to purchase two new engines each with 1,700 gallons water tanks. This total tank volume is equal to the original proposal. It eliminates the need to immediately replace our water tender and improves our ability to provide service by adding an additional fire truck to our fleet.
These fire engines are heavy duty, all wheel drive, diesels, with automatic transmissions. They pump 1,250 gallons per minute, utilizing a Compressed Air Foam (CAFs) system. The trucks have approximately 200 cubic feet of storage space for fire fighting, emergency medical, and rescue equipment. The trucks seat 5 fire fighters in an enclosed cab.
We are pleased to report that both of these new trucks have been delivered and are in service and meeting the needs of the community.
The Cottonwood Station /Training Facility opened May 2004 and is now operational, staffed and meeting the needs of the community. Equipment at Cottonwood includes one of our new engines. Tours of the facility are available by appointment.
As always we welcome your comments and ideas. |
