Commission approves fire department school escort policy

Under a compromise agreement reached with school district personnel, the Medford Area Fire Department will once again provide state tournament teams with escorts.

At the August 25 fire commission meeting, commission members approved the agreement reached by a committee of assistant fire chief Mike Radlinger, rescue captain Davey Sapinski, commission member Clem Johnson, vice principal Andy Guden and school activities director Ryan Pilgrim.

The committee had discussed the importance of allowing the Medford Area Fire Department to escort students out of town and/or back into town as a way to celebrate their success and accomplishments.

Under the agreement, the head coach/advisor/director will be in charge of contacting the Activities Director who will then contact the fire department member in charge of organizing a volunteer to drive a fire truck as an escort out of town and/or back into town if a volunteer from the department is available and willing to perform this community volunteer service. It is imperative to notify the fire department as soon as possible to secure a volunteer and must be notified at least 48 hours before requested escort.

The department had drawn criticism in the past after turning down last minute escort requests. Fire chief Mike Filas said he hopes the new policy will help by providing adequate notice to line up volunteer drivers.

When asked if the firefighters would be paid for their time in driving escort, Filas said they would be entirely volunteer.

“They are not getting paid. The only cost to the commission is the fuel used in the truck,” Filas said. As planned, the escorts would go south as far as CTH O and to the north to the north city limits. It was expected the distance wouldn’t be more than five miles traveled.

Filas also noted that there may be times when the department cannot make it happen either through receiving an emergency call at the same time or when personnel are just not available.

Filas said they will also work with the Medford Police Department for the escorts. The city typically requires a parade permit, to alert law enforcement for traffic control needs. Sports team escorts are a deviation from those and law enforcement is typically involved.

The agreement was reached by a majority vote with representatives from the town of Grover and the town of Goodrich opposed.

Joint agreement

The basic operating agreement for the fire department is set to be renewed with no changes when the current one expires at the end of the year.

The agreement lays out the representation from each of the municipalities making up the Medford Area Fire Department and sets their representation on the commission. Under terms of the agreement, expenses to operate the department are divided between the municipalities based on their share of the total equalized value of the district. When the agreement was last reviewed, three year ago, commission members had approved giving the town of Medford an additional seat on the commission, taking one away from the city of Medford to reflect the growth in the town. Other municipalities have one seat each.

There were no changes proposed to the agreement this time and it was decided to keep it for another three year term. With the commission members voting to approve the agreement, it now goes to each of the towns. The town chairman and clerks must sign the new agreement.

In related action, commission chairman Lester Lewis advised commission members that their individual town boards should pass ordinances saying that fees would be charged. Under fire department policy, the department bills municipalities for the cost of fire calls within the towns with this cost being passed along to the individual property owner affected or to motorists if it is a vehicle accident.

Lewis said he disagreed with a towns association recommendation to set an amount for the charge in the ordinance and to say billing will be based on the amount set by the fire commission.

In other business commission members:

_ Approved the 2022 budget to cover $126,650 in expenses and $80,100 for the truck replacement fund. The truck replacement fund was increased this year in response to inflation going up on equipment purchases. The budget had been presented in June and sent to the municipalities for review.

_ Discussed the need to upgrade radios. Filas said it was his intention to put them in the 2023 budget cycle. He said the radios are aging but are still effective. He cautioned about moving too quickly to replace them because of rumors at the state level of the state moving toward an 800 MHz band for emergency radio communications. Filas said the current radio equipment for the department is analog and they could potentially stay with what they have now. Communication equipment will be added to a future meeting agenda.

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