Richard Uhlhorn
Chelan Fire and Rescue held its monthly commissioner meeting on 10/18/23. Chief Brandon Asher reported that the financials of the district are under budget for the year so far.
The District responded to 92 calls of which several were cardiac arrests. “It took 15 shocks on one individual to bring him back,” said Asher. “He is now recovering.”
Asher reported that a TIF meeting was held with the City and that another meeting is scheduled for October 24.
Asher also reported that Doug Jones is the new RiverCom director. The new radio system was demoded and it didn’t work as expected. Assistant Chief Shawn Sherman said, “It only worked when we had line of sight.”
Last week was the last week the annual seasonal firefighters were on duty. “We can’t thank them enough,” said Asher. “They helped our tax payers and one of them received a provisional job offer at another fire district.”
Sherman asked the commissioners if the district can improve the incentive pay for volunteers to make it more palpable to them. Asher added that was the current plan to get volunteers in for drills.
Brush 71 was sold for $110,000 which helps the district pay off a refurbished Type 3 truck that is expected to be on line in November. The District will receive one of its new engines on January 29. “The second one is not started yet,” said Asher. The manufacturer has agreed to pay the $15,000 shipping costs. The delays, according to Asher has been COVID. “They have had 37 factory workers out.”
The district is paying $748,000 for each of the new wildland fire engines. “They would cost $900,000 now.
Sherman reported that he is processing a new application at the PIO level. “That will be a big help,” he said. He added that the Volunteer Academy is shifting back to Wenatchee and that Mark Donnell is participating.
After the meeting, Asher stated that his phone is ringing off the hook from other fire organizations regarding the Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) program. “We are getting calls from other agencies about TIFs. They have hundred’s of questions.”
Asher added that the City has the District’s TIF proposal and said they would reply with a counter proposal.
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