Central Fire to replace radio unit in Dorchester

Central Fire and EMS is facing another unbudgeted expense this year after the radio repeaters used by emergency responders in Abbotsford and Dorchester recently started to malfunction.

EMT chief Travis Nixdorf told the fire district board last Thursday that repairs have already been made to the repeater on Abbotsford’s water tower, but the one in Dorchester is “pretty much shot.” The estimated replacement cost is at least $11,330, he said, though the full expense is likely to be closer to $13,000 if the repeater is moved to the village’s water tower.

Nixdorf said the repeaters provide responders with a much larger range for their radios, essentially covering the entire district, but a couple of weeks ago, static became an issue in both Abbotsford and Dorchester. The antenna in Abbotsford was able to be fixed, but the repeater in Dorchester is mounted on a grain elevator and has been exposed to a lot of dust.

“It is working right now, but the range is pretty poor,” he said.

The repeaters are normally very low maintenance, Nixdorf said, and even though the ones in Colby and Abbotsford are past their expected lifespan, he said they’re working fine and do not need to be replaced at this time. At some point in the future, they will need to be replaced, but because they don’t require as much equipment as the one in Dorchester, the cost is estimated to be $7,665 each, Nixdorf said.

When asked if all three repeaters were needed, Nixdorf said the local terrain makes it difficult to communicate without one in Dorchester.

Rick “Norton” Rinehart, the town of Mayville’s representative, said the district has already spent about $5,000 to fix the repeater in Abbotsford and diagnose the problems with the one in Dorchester, so the total price tag will be closer to $17,500.

“Remember, just last meeting, we talked about not spending money?” Rinehart said, referring to a previous conversation about buying new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) for firefighters – an expense that was also not included in this year’s budget. “But, we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.”

Nixdorf called the cost estimate a “worstcase scenario” and said the price could come down if used parts could be found. The district also needs to get official permission from the village board in Dorchester in order to move the repeater onto the water tower, so Nixdorf plans on asking for approval at their next meeting.

Board chairman Larry Oehmichen agreed with Nixdorf that the repeater needs to be replaced and ideally moved off the grain elevator to prevent future mechanical problems.

“You guys have got to be able to talk to each other,” he said to Nixdorf, referring to EMTs.

With a fund transfer approved earlier in the meeting, Oehmichen said the district should have nearly $85,000 available for the remainder of this year. “So, we should still be alright,” he said.

Other business

■ After debating the possible liability of selling the district’s old SCBAs, which had been deemed a possible safety risk by firefighters, the board voted to donate the remaining units with a caveat about the recipients accepting the units “as is.” The district has already sold 12 air bottles to the City Point Fire Department, at the trade-in value of $605 each, with six packs and masks provided for free.

Oehmichen and Rinehart questioned how the district could sell or give away the old SCBAs after local firefighters said they needed new ones in order to prevent a possible fatality during a fire.

“And then we come back and say they’re good enough for another fire department?” Rinehart said. “It don’t sit real well with a lot of the board.”

A motion approved by the board directed assistant fire chief John Austin to contact Randy Younker, a fire safety instructor at Northcentral Technical College, about donating the SCBAs “as is” by the end of this year.

■ The board approved a motion to borrow money from a certificate of deposit (CD) originally established for buying a new ambulance and put those funds into a money market account so they are available in case the district needs it to meet expenses later this year. The CD’s maturity date is July 24, so the motion calls for renewing the CD with a remaining balance of $250,000 after the transfer is made. The ambulance purchase is not scheduled until 2027.

■ The board accepted the resignation of Colby Ald. Todd Schmidt as district treasurer and appointed Ald. Jason Lindeman, the city of Colby’s new representative on the board, as the treasurer. Schmidt, who attended last Thursday’s meeting as an alternate in Lindeman’s absence, said Colby’s mayor decided to appoint Lindeman instead of Schmidt as the city’s official representative, making Schmidt ineligible to serve as treasurer.

■ According to the chief’s monthly report, the district responded to 62 ambulance calls and four fire calls between June 19 and July 17.