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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Tower considers fire protection for Bois Forte

Band severs ties with Greenwood Township; city to investigate joint fire department options

Jodi Summit
Posted 1/11/13

TOWER- The failure of Greenwood Township to come to an agreement with Bois Forte for fire protection has put the city of Tower in a delicate situation.

Greenwood, at their meeting on Jan. 8, …

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Tower considers fire protection for Bois Forte

Band severs ties with Greenwood Township; city to investigate joint fire department options

Posted

TOWER- The failure of Greenwood Township to come to an agreement with Bois Forte for fire protection has put the city of Tower in a delicate situation.

Greenwood, at their meeting on Jan. 8, passed a formal resolution dissolving any agreement with the Band for fire protection along with the transfer of ownership of the 1972 aerial truck back to the Band. The aerial truck had been purchased by the Band for the Greenwood Fire Department.

Greenwood’s most recent agreement with Bois Forte included a $200,000 prepayment on a four-year agreement, which expired on Dec. 31. The township has requested as much as $75,000 a year in previous negotiations with the Band.

The Band, after Greenwood rejected their offer in December, sent a draft agreement to the City of Tower, offering a $150,000 donation in exchange for a five-year agreement for fire protection services. The city did sign a temporary agreement with Bois Forte, to provide fire protection services until the next regular council meeting on Jan. 14.

At a special council meeting on Jan. 7, city council members and fire department officers discussed concerns, and possible opportunities available, if they entered into the agreement with Bois Forte.

The agreement submitted by Bois Forte would have the city agree to respond to fires and emergencies on the reservation, to provide Bois Forte with a monthly summary of activity and services provided, cooperate with law enforcement officials on the reservation, coordinate volunteer fire fighter training and emergency preparedness activities, and to maintain customary insurance coverage for fire and emergency personnel.

The Band would agree to recruit and train volunteer firefighters, provide the city with access to fire fighting equipment owned by the Band, coordinate training and planning for Bois Forte properties, and keep the city notified of fire numbers, new construction, and other safety concerns.

Tower Fire Chief Rolando Noyes said the main concern among department members was the responsibility of being in charge if there were ever a fire at the hotel/casino. He noted that the department was obligated to respond to fires on the reservation whether or not they had a signed agreement in place.

Noyes said members were also concerned about the damage entering into the agreement might cause in the department’s relationship with the Greenwood Fire Department. This past year Tower, Breitung, and Greenwood all approved automatic mutual aid agreements, where each department is automatically called out for any fire in the three coverage areas. Department members were concerned that Greenwood would refuse to respond to Tower, if Tower took on the Bois Forte agreement. Department members noted that when Greenwood returned the aerial truck to Bois Forte, they had removed almost all the firefighting equipment on the truck, including equipment that was on the truck when originally purchased by Bois Forte.

Other options

Tower Fire Department Assistant Chief Steve Altenburg said department members wondered if all three departments might cooperate and take on the agreement as a group. Bois Forte officials told the city that they could help find grant money to fund construction of a new joint fire facility. Bois Forte also now has trained firefighters, but according to the city, has no plans on starting their own department. In such a case, the Bois Forte members could join either Tower or a new joint department.

Tower Fire Department officials said that it appeared that Greenwood had stopped responding to calls from the reservation in December.

Tower Mayor Steve Abrahamson said he felt an agreement with Bois Forte would be a good step for Tower. He noted that the city had worked well with Bois Forte in the past, and looked forward to working together in the future.

Council member Billy Hiltunen noted that this might be a good step towards long-range plans to create a joint Tower-Breitung Fire Department, with the possible addition of Greenwood, if they desired. The idea of forming a joint department has been discussed for many years, and was part of the Tower-Breitung Long-Range Plan. In the past, differences in the two departments’ pension funds made the prospect of a joint department less likely, but now both departments are enrolled in the same state pension plan, removing that barrier to cooperation.

Council member Ed Majerle noted that $30,000 a year was a significant amount of revenue for the city.

Clerk-Treasurer Ann Lamppa asked if the city should set up a meeting with Breitung and Greenwood, and their fire departments, to discuss the idea of a joint department or the idea of having a joint agreement with Bois Forte. She also added that the city might want to consider entering into a one-year agreement to start with, to see the actual impact on the department budget.

Lamppa also wondered if Bois Forte would agree to have their own staff on call to be in charge of the scene, in case of a major emergency at the hotel/casino. In that case, there would be someone on the scene to check if alarms are false calls before fire personnel are called out. She noted there are retired fire professionals living on Lake Vermilion that would be qualified to act as incident commanders in case of such an emergency.

“We want to let Bois Forte understand that we want to help,” said Lamppa. “But it is going to take some time.”

The council said they would agree to extend the temporary agreement with Bois Forte until a final arrangement can be worked out. They also reaffirmed their commitment to the automatic mutual aid agreement in place.

“We aren’t going to punish a resident in Greenwood because of this disagreement,” said Altenburg. “Our job is to fight fires.”

Altenberg noted that the department is always ready to help, and said the department has no problems with the responsibility of responding to house fires or smaller commercial building fires on the reservation. The issue, he said, was the hotel/casino.

“It’s a question of who is in charge, and who is responsible,” he said. Fire department officials noted that the department would need specialized training in fighting a larger commercial structure fire. Hiltunen noted that five area departments responded to a call about smoke at the casino about five years ago. Deputy Clerk Linda Keith said she was at Fortune Bay last year when the facility needed to be evacuated because of a potential threat. She noted that their building staff were able to safely and quickly evacuate the building.

But fire department officials were clear that they felt their department did not have the experience to be in charge of a potential fire scene at a crowded hotel. This was experience you find in a big city fire department, Altenburg noted.

“Nothing teaches you more than experience,” said Altenburg.

The council said they felt they needed more time to study the issue, and also requested more input from the fire department. The city will be setting up a joint meeting with Breitung and also plans to invite Greenwood. A planned meeting between the council and representatives from the Band set for the Jan. 14 meeting will be rescheduled afterwards, they said.