Coulee Dam Council demands more info for requested money

Some requests for ambulance and fire improvements were OK’d last week by Coulee Dam’s town council, but some weren’t.

Normally, the second reading of an ordnance is a formality for council passage.

Not on Wednesday night at Coulee Dam, when an ordinance to provide funds for fire department and ambulance improvement ran into trouble.

Council members wanted specific price information on a number of items seeking funds in a budget amendment ordinance totaling $78,840. The request had grown a little over $7,000 between the first and second reading.

The ordinance had come up for first reading a couple weeks ago and was questioned then by council members Shawn Derrick and Duane Johnson, who wanted more specific pricing on the many items listed.

The council finally passed the first reading but with the understanding that the town would furnish a breakdown in the pricing.

That didn’t happen this time, at least to the satisfaction of either Derrick or Johnson.

They questioned the pricing in many cases and teamed together to table the second reading until the town could produce the price information requested.

Many of the items sailed through. A request for funds for consulting fees, of a total of $8,000 for combined services for the fire department an ambulance programs was hardly questioned.

The scrutiny of the $71,000-plus request went on for over an hour, item by item, and when it had all been looked at and some items questioned it was quickly tabled for a later date.

The ordinance asked for $21,500 for ambulance improvements and $57,340 for the fire department items.

One person in the audience took issue with the background statement that stated: “The Coulee Dam fire department has not been maintaining equipment and facility repairs and maintenance on an annual basis …”

He stated that it was the responsibility of the council to see that these things happen.

A request of $20,140 for fire department roll-up doors pretty much sailed through when council members heard of associated safety factors.

A request for $10,500 for kitchen improvements, including a steel cabinet for food, was closely questioned. The steel cabinet was requested because the current cabinets had a lot of mice droppings in them. It was explained that the department needed to have 24 hours worth of food available for when the department was called out for wildfires.

Derrick asked if some of the items might be covered with fund raisers, but that didn’t seem to be nailed down.

A request for $3,000 to write a policy and procedure manual came under some questioning when it was asked why the town couldn’t just take some other city’s policy manual and adapt it to the town’s needs.

Pagers and radio requests for $5,500 got swift approval when the council learned that current equipment is either missing, outdated or broken.

Ambulance requests generally were approved; these covered supplies, pagers and some repairs to equipment.

The council also requested that items required by agencies, such as OSHA/WISHA and others, be indicated, showing the things the town has to do to meet requirements.

The second reading of the ordinance will come up again at the town’s next meeting.