Approve upgrades for fire department
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By David Porter
The Tuscola City Council on Monday spent $336,000 on fire department upgrades. It was noted that $36,000 of that came from various grant money.
The biggest expenditure was $250,725 for self-contained breathing aparatus (SCBA) equipment, which has to be replaced from time to time. The current equipment was said to be more than 20 years old puttiing the department at risk of losing its state authorization to operate. Drew Hoel, city administrator, said $270,000 was budgeted for the expense.
Other equipment included dual band radios, rescue tools, and turn-out gear. Mayor Dan Kleiss noted that it was “a lot of money” but necessary to keep firefighters safe. Overall, the equipment costs were about $16,000 more than was budgeted, Hoel said.
The Council waived formal bidding for the equipment.
The Council also passed its appropriations budget after a public hearing that no one attended. They also approved their annual engineering contract with Jim Crane for road maintenance and a resolution for road maintenance. The seal coat material work has not yet been bid, Hoel said. Crane’s contract is for $1,250 plus 2 percent of the road contract costs. The maintenance work will be bid soon with work expected to begin in August or Septemember.
The City also authorized the purchase of an underground utility locator at a cost of $6,907 to Subsurface Solutions. Hoel said the equipment will be able to detect plastic water lines, which have been difficult to find in the past.
Under the consent agenda, the Council approved a back-to-school event for the Douglas County Health Department for Aug. 1 at Ervin Park. Kleiss also read two recent thank-you letters the city received including one from Students Against Destructive Decisions expressing appreciation for city officials and signed by all of the students.
In his written report, Hoel said the Kiwanis Club has formed a committee to look at replacing playground equipment at Ervin Park. He said he is participating with the committee in hopes of finding recommendations and community and grant support. Conclusions and recommendations will come back to the Council, he said.