The 2013 Tofte Township annual meeting continuation on Aug. 8 was brief, with only one item added before the 2014 township budget was approved and set at $183,197—$10,000 more than proposed at the March 2013 annual township meeting.
Supervisor Jim King asked that the extra money be added onto the budgets of the fire department and rescue squad.
“In order to make our township comparable with our neighbors, I think we need to add $10,000 to the fire department and rescue squad with a minimum of 75 percent of that dedicated to training, reimbursement for training, or mileage,” said King, adding, “There have been three major incidents in the last few months that have taken up a lot of time for these volunteers. These people make a big commitment of time to train and respond when called upon. We also have an aging membership. We need to make it more appealing to attract younger people. With one or two exceptions our crews are getting pretty long in the tooth.”
King is the township’s liaison to the fire department and rescue squad. At the March 12 annual meeting he asked for a committee to be set up to discuss how to recruit and retain new members to Tofte Fire Department and Rescue Squad, possibly using some form of compensation. His suggestion to add $10,000 to the budgets came from that meeting, but he again called for a committee to be formed that would come back to this group with suggestions about how to better attract and retain volunteers, especially younger volunteers. He said he hoped a proposal would be brought back to the township by year’s end.
The committee, said King, could be made up of one member from each department, one town supervisor, plus one member of the public. The two other township supervisors, Paul James and D.C. Olsen, agreed with King and approved the additional money and a search for committee members will begin.
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