TOWER— The future of the Tower Fire Department will be the subject of a new ad hoc committee established by the city council here on Monday. The department is down to fewer than half a dozen members and has suffered from vehicle problems, a longstanding issue with poor equipment maintenance, and an inability to recruit new members.
The department has operated with an interim assistant fire chief and captain for more than two years, both of whom were appointed by Chief Paige Olson.
With an automatic fire protection agreement with the Breitung and Greenwood fire departments, and with other mutual aid partners available, the city has managed to get by without a viable department for some time. The city has also been fortunate that it has had no major fires in the past few years.
Clerk-treasurer Michael Schultz said he was looking for council assistance in addressing several issues with the department due to constraints on his time which prevent him from taking on the issue alone.
Council members Joe Morin and Bob Anderson (who was absent from Monday’s meeting) agreed to take up the matter and will consider several issues, including poor recruitment of new members, the status of interim officers, reviewing the current firefighter application and requirements, and the future of the department.
Schultz noted that city hall had commissioned a time study for the fire chief last year, but there was no follow-up on the study.
Council member Kevin Norby suggested taking a new look at the merger with the Breitung Fire Department, which was well underway when the city backed out of the agreement over disagreements on the construction of a joint hall and leadership.
“Is there any possibility of bringing that forward?” asked Norby.
“That’s all part of the discussion of the future of the department,” said Mayor Dave Setterberg. “It’s wide open”
The city currently spends about $40,000, or approximately ten percent of its levy on the fire department, but the department’s ability to respond effectively to a fire has been in doubt for some time given its limited manpower and inconsistent training. The department currently relies heavily on assistance from Breitung for both manpower and incident command.
The ad hoc committee of Morin, Anderson, and Schultz established on Monday will meet and report back to the council with recommendations.
In other business, the council discussed but took no action on the city’s need for additional housing. Setterberg said the issue has been coming up in discussions he’s having with residents while he’s been door-knocking as part of his re-election effort.
Setterberg said the city needs to start a discussion with the Tower Economic Development Authority, which also serves as the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority, about how to bring more housing to town.
Morin, who serves on the TEDA board, said TEDA is well aware of the need for housing. “TEDA’s working on it,” he said. “It topped the priority list in our recent strategic thinking session.”
Morin said considerable new housing could be a part of the harbor development, depending on which direction TEDA goes now that the town home project won’t proceed as originally planned. Morin added that current construction costs are prohibitive, which is making new housing difficult to build. “Hopefully costs will come down sometime next year,” he said.
Setterberg said that much of the demand for housing options is coming from seniors, many of whom would like to get out their existing houses and into low or no-maintenance housing options. Providing senior housing, he noted, would keep seniors in the community and free up existing housing for new families.
The council took no official action on the housing front.
In other business, the council:
• Took no action on a cartway petition presented to the council several weeks ago by developer Dave Rose, who is seeking access to property he owns on the west side of East Two River, near its entrance to Pike Bay. Under state law, the city must issue the cartway as long as a petitioner has at least five acres of land and has no other access, other than by water. That appears to be the case with Rose. While most of the land he seeks to access is wetland, there is about an acre of high ground, which Rose would like to turn into a homesite.
Rose is seeking access across land currently owned by J&J Properties, owned by Justin Renner and his wife. Under state law, the city must grant a qualified cartway petition although it would be up to Rose to work with the Renners on the location of the access road and he would be responsible for the cost of construction. The council agreed that Rose should meet with Schultz and city attorney Joel Lewicki to discuss the matter further.
• Gave Schultz the authority to select a date and time for a public meeting on the city’s trailhead and river access project the week of Oct. 24. Schultz said the project’s engineer had developed four options for the layout of the trailhead, but that the city should solicit public input before making a final selection. In related action, Schultz reported that work on the Main Street extension to the planned river access was moving ahead although the contractors have had to move more soft soil than anticipated, which was increasing the cost of the work.
• Heard a brief report from Schultz on the status of the new AFSCME contract with the ambulance director. Schultz said he hoped to have one more closed session with the council before final approval of the contract, which the council could vote on at their November meeting.
• Established an ad hoc committee to review the lone application for assistant ambulance director.
• Appointed Schultz to serve on the Airport Commission.
• Approved a motion to accept the 2021 auditor’s report after reviewing the eight management points raised in the audit. The Timberjay has previously reported on those points.
• Approved moving forward with the purchase of a back-up generator for the Hoodoo Point Campground, not to exceed $15,000.
• Gave Schultz the greenlight to review and amend the employee performance review process and proceed with employee reviews. The council authorized Setterberg and Norby to conduct a performance review on the Schultz, who has now served a year as clerk-treasurer.
• Certified delinquent utility bills for submission to St. Louis County to be assessed on property taxes.
• Heard that the Ambulance Commission wants to purchase a new ambulance to replace the two older vehicles still in operation by the Tower Area Ambulance Service. Schultz noted that the city currently lacks the funds to make that purchase but that township members of the commission were going to take the matter back to their boards to discuss the possibility of additional contributions.