The chief topic of discussion at the beginning of the Lutsen town meeting on January 19, 2016 was issues that might come up with the township phone service in emergency situations. Judy Sivertson from the Cook County sheriff ’s office explained the problem.
Both True North Broadband and CenturyLink serve telephone customers in the Lutsen township, however,
Sivertson explained that if the CenturyLink line is cut, the company can flip a switch that sends 911 CenturyLink subscribers to the number within the exchange that can help them. In this case, that would be the township number, (218) 663-7002—where members of the Lutsen Fire Department would be standing by to forward 911 calls by emergency radio.
However, if the township phone number is on True North Broadband, the CenturyLink calls cannot be forwarded to that number at the townhall. Apparently, in this emergency situation, Broadband phones can only reach other Broadband phones.
“The goal will be to have a Broadband phone in dispatch,” Sivertson explained after the meeting. “So that if CenturyLink is down, anyone with a Broadband phone can call dispatch on that Broadband number directly bypassing CenturyLink when they [911] are down.”
The problem could slow emergency response time or cause some needs to be missed if not dealt with. It seemed the only way to remedy the problem was to have two township phone lines. The supervisors all expressed some frustration at having to rely on two companies.
“It seems ridiculous to use two companies for emergency services,” Supervisor Andrew Beavers said. “But we have to do it.”
After Sivertson finished presenting the issue, some discussion followed and Supervisor Tim Goettl moved the concern down the agenda to new business to be revisited later in the meeting. When discussion resumed, it was agreed that the township needed only a CenturyLink line.
The supervisors unanimously passed a motion to return to phone service with CenturyLink, keeping the 663-7002 number for both Lutsen township and the Fire Hall. Cook County law enforcement will continue to seek a solution to handle 911 calls in the event of a cut Broadband line.
New EMS truck to be ordered
Another topic on the agenda that dominated discussion Tuesday night was the purchase of a new emergency response truck. A brief discussion ensued regarding whether a new truck was needed.
EMS Chief Fred Schmidt pointed out that the truck currently in use wasn’t necessarily meant for emergency work and it was time to update. When responding to emergency calls, all of the gear is loosely stored and if they hurry to a call, the gear flies up and could cause damage.
“Essentially, we are using a passenger vehicle as an emergency vehicle,” Beavers paraphrased Schmidt’s concern. “It’s risking people.”
Lutsen is growing, as are the responsibilities of the EMS team, noted the town board.
In discussing the purchase of a new truck, it was noted that there is a verbal agreement between the Lutsen and Tofte townships that the old truck would be sold to Tofte for $20,000. If the sale goes through, the money could be put toward the new truck, bringing the original cost of $104,000 down to $84,000.
It was also agreed, however, that the township wouldn’t rely on the potential sale of the old truck. Even if it doesn’t sell, there is enough money in the truck fund to purchase the new EMS vehicle.
Beavers made a motion to purchase the new truck, an F 350 4X4 1-ton crew cab chassis for $73,569.00 and $29,955 for equipping the vehicle. The motion was passed unanimously.
Duties and contracts considered
Another item of business was review of the duties of the supervisors, which included job descriptions for each supervisor. Supervisor Larry McNeally’s draft was reviewed first and a few concerns were addressed.
A few of McNeally’s duties included ensuring the town hall was clean after rentals, making minor repairs, and also emergency repairs. McNeally was uncertain at what point he should refer to the other supervisors before making a repair.
Initially, Beavers suggested that McNeally set the amount he felt was best. “You can set what you think is reasonable,” Beavers commented. “You should feel empowered to make decisions.”
As discussion progressed, the consensus leaned toward McNeally relying on his own judgment as far as when to check with the other supervisors.
“That’s why you were elected,” Treasurer John Groth said. “We trust you with those decisions.”
In the end, no precise amount was identified, and the board left decisions on how much to spend on repairs before consulting the other supervisors to McNeally’s discretion.
A second concern for McNeally had to do with cleaning and snowplowing contracts. McNeally pointed out that a few things were not being attended to and suggested there might be holes in the contracts.
In the case of the cleaning contract, supervisors agreed that simply talking to the cleaner would resolve the issue since all of the required cleaning was included in the contract.
The issue with the snowplowing contract was more complicated. McNeally observed that the sidewalk on the way into the town hall had been very icy and that they should have someone to sand and shovel it.
“These are a lot of great issues,” Beavers agreed after McNeally explained the various dilemmas. “It helps to have standards to measure expectations. We should go on an as-needed basis. We do need to redefine some of these things, but we need to take care of some now.”
A few suggestions were tossed around, and the board moved on to the other supervisor duties drafts. It was agreed that McNeally would send his draft to Clerk Sharon Hexum-Platzer and she would forward it to Beavers and Goettl to use as a basis for creating their own.
After the discussion of supervisors’ duties, a few other topics were briefly covered and solutions were quickly agreed on, and the meeting was adjourned shortly thereafter.
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