Some fires require a different response from others, and not all fire departments are trained to deal with all fires. At the February 12 Schroeder Township Board meeting, Fire Chief Phil Bonin reported that because of this, his department has asked Minnesota Power to maintain their own fire equipment and crew.
Dealing with coal fires requires a different response from other types of fire, Bonin said, and Cook County’s fire departments are not properly trained to deal with them.
The fire chief said he has been told that industrial plants on the Iron Range have their own fire departments.
The crew from all three West End fire departments would not be enough to contain a coal fire, he said. Their only recourse at this point is to order an evacuation.
The Schroeder Fire Department has been called to several coal fires at Minnesota Power’s Taconite Harbor Energy Center in the last several years. Spontaneous fires are not uncommon when coal is stagnant, Managing Superintendent David Rannetsberger told the News-Herald last fall. Workers take preventative measures to identify and dig out hot spots before fire breaks out, but last October, an explosion severely injured employee Joe Frederickson of Silver Bay.
Funding for roads
Because of changes in state legislation, “county state-aid turnback funds” that have been sitting in the Cook County Town Road Account can now be distributed annually to townships that maintain some of their own roads. Previously, the funds could only be released when townships levied a certain amount for specific road and bridge projects.
The two townships with their own roads are Tofte and Schroeder. Fifty percent of the funds are divided up according to the townships’ population, and the other 50 percent of the funds are divided up according to the number of miles of road each township has.
This year, Tofte, with a population of 252 people and .39 miles of road, will receive $4,675.98 and Schroeder, with a population of 211 and 4.67 miles of road, will receive $10,375.02. The disbursements are not likely to be this large each year because several years of funding will not have accumulated.
The townships must use the funds for road construction or reconstruction or for maintenance of gravel roads.
Elections and annual meeting
In preparation for the March 12 annual meeting, the board went over donation requests and came up with a 2013 budget. The Tofte Rescue Squad has requested that Schroeder pay the same amount it has been paying—$10,440/year—for the next two years.
Expenses for 2013 are estimated at $96,640, not including donations. The board discussed statutory requirements regarding donations by the township. For example, to donate to the Birch Grove Foundation, the township must have a contract for services to be provided, such as the senior lunch program. Supervisor Roger “Bill” McKeever said they keep donations out of the general budget so that citizens can decide if they want to give and in what amounts.
The next regular township board meeting will be Monday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. The annual meeting will be the next day at 8:00 p.m. when elections are over. Both Supervisor Tina McKeever and Treasurer Alicia Kangas are running for re-election.
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