Why the rural fire station affects you
Why the rural fire station affects you
Terry Gembala,
President, Polson Firefighter Membership
Anyone who has followed the local news over the past year or so, has probably noticed bits and pieces of a growing issue surrounding plans to construct a new Polson Rural Fire Station near the Lake County Fairgrounds in Polson. The Rural Board recently opened bids for a new 5-apparatus fire station less than 1 mile from the current city of Polson fire station.
The Fire Department membership has not embraced this new station for a number of very good reasons and perhaps the greatest is cost. The Board recently directed us to tighten our belts and look for ways to cut costs in anticipation of reduced tax revenues. It seems ironic that the trustees are unwilling to follow their own advice. In what has been described as the worst economic times since the Great Depression, it makes no sense to just blindly plow ahead when the stakes are so high. The Rural Board has no plans to obtain any new equipment for several years and, in fact, can barely afford the equipment it currently owns. All of the rural and city fire apparatus is currently safely stored indoors. In addition to the initial cost of more than $100,000 for the station, there is the duplication of utilities, maintenance, insurance, and all the other costs associated with this redundant facility. Although, the board has stated that it won’t seek more money from the taxpayers, the firefighters believe that this will be unavoidable.
As part of the rationale for the new station, the Rural Board has also said that “we need to use that land or lose it,” referring to their inexpensive long term lease with Lake County. The Polson firefighters agree, and suggest that location is an ideal place for a multi-agency training facility for all Lake County fire departments and emergency responders. Now that’s something we actually need!
It is human nature to not want to change your course once it is started. However, nobody anticipated the current global financial crisis when the ideas were first laid for this station. We feel the trustees should put off making such a large and open-ended financial commitment until economic conditions improve and a clear functional - not political - need can be demonstrated. And, because there are a majority of board seats available (two regular seats for election, and one vacant seat due to a Trustee resignation last week) the board should not take any action on such an important issue until the new Board is seated and has adequate time to consider the decision.
The Polson firefighters agree that eventually a new station will be needed, but let’s all work together so that it meets the combined needs of the rural and city departments to get the most for every dollar.
In this 100th anniversary year of the Polson Fire Department, please help your volunteer firefighters avoid burdening local taxpayers with a poorly planned fire station and unnecessary expense. Your views on these important issues can be made known at any Rural Fire District Trustee meeting or any of the upcoming public forums the Fire Department Membership will be holding around the Fire District. The Rural Board intends to award a contract for construction at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 at Polson City Hall.