Illinois Valley Fire District may seek loan for equipment upgrade
From our weekly issue dated February 17, 2010
If Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) cannot obtain grant funding to update its Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) system, the board of directors might be asked for permission to obtain a loan.
Chief Harry Rich made that comment during the Thursday night, Feb. 11 meeting at IVFD headquarters in Cave Junction.
Deputy Chief Jeff Gavlik said that the district is on its last three-year cycle for the SCBA units. He said that IVFD currently uses a low-pressure system, and that most agencies have high-pressure systems.
The grant that the district has applied for would help it make the switch to a high-pressure system, Gavlick said. The new system would cost approximately $500,000, he explained.
Rich described the new SCBA system as the “tools we need to get the job done.“ He said that having such a system could be the difference between life and death. Not having a good SCBA system could inhibit the abilities of firefighters to make interior attacks, he said.
“We may have to make some sacrifices before too long,“ Rich noted.
Fire Marshal Jerry Schaeffer told the board that he has been researching inspection fees for commercial structures. He said that what he has found so far is “comparable“ to the fee schedule IVFD is examining.
Schaeffer said that the fee would be around 10 percent of the amount paid for building fees, and would go toward staff time to perform the inspections.
“It“s mainly commercial-type structures,“ he said.
An ordinance establishing the inspection process and fee schedule will be brought before the board during its March 11 meeting, according to Schaeffer.
In other matters, the IVFD board:
- Voted 5-0 to approve seven annexations totaling 220 acres on Holton Creek Road.
- Voted 5-0 to approve three resolutions. The first is to change a budgeted line item to reflect IVFD receiving a $6,694 grant from the Oregon Dept. of Forestry to help purchase individual fire protection shelters.
A third resolution reflects a series of budgetary changes in the district“s contingency line item.
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