Some people in Clearwater and surrounding areas may be paying a fee if they are assisted by the Clearwater Fire Dept.
Monday, the Clearwater City Council discussed the possibility of establishing an ordinance to set charges for emergency response services.
Administrator Kevin Kress presented the council with a draft ordinance that describes all the services provided by the fire department, and potential charges.
Proposed charges included in the draft ordinance would be $275 per hour for an engine or ladder/aerial truck with up to four personnel; $200 for a water tender; $185 for heavy rescue/rescue/ambulance; $85 for command vehicle/utility truck/grass truck and $50 for ATV with water tank.
Kress said city staff doesn’t prefer to charge people who are already being charged for the services in their tax levy. But he said he’d like the council’s input on whether there should be any additional charges, and who should be charged.
“The biggest question for us is the highways,” he said. “We think if there’s an accident involving somebody that does not live in the city, we think we should go after the insurance to get that recovered. We haven’t been doing that.”
The draft ordinance doesn’t propose charges for every call. An accidental house fire would be exempt. So would a search and rescue. But there would be charges for service calls that are the result of the use of hazardous materials, illegal activities such as meth labs, commercial activity without a proper license, illegal burns or arson.
A bill would also be sent to MnDOT or the county administrator if a grass fire originated in the right-of-way of a state highway or a county road.
Members of the council were interested in some type of ordinance to reimburse the city for certain services.
Council Member Andrea Lawrence said in St. Cloud people are allowed three false burglar alarms before they’re charged. So maybe there should be a provision that establishes a number of false alarms.
Councilman Richard Petty said he was in favor of charges for non-residents, but didn’t want to discourage people from not calling if they had a medical emergency.
Mayor Pete Edmonson directed Kress to have Clearwater Fire Chief Ryan Pridgeon attend the next council meeting to discuss what other departments are doing.
Fire Hall Doors
The council awarded the contract to replace the five fire hall garage doors, external antennas and door openers to Heartland Door Sales at $16,990. The doors will be purchased and installed this year and the cost will be reimbursed from the 2018 budget.
Other Business
In other action the council:
• Approved a drainage utility easement for Kwik Trip;
• Accepted a donation of $200 from John Dunderi and Patricia Grelson to be used by the Clearwater Fire Dept. at their discretion;
• Approved a joint cooperative mutual aid agreement with Wright County for the use of fire personnel and equipment;
• Approved the expenditure of up to $4,000 for new chairs in city council chambers.
