(Wahpeton)– One lakes area city council says a regional fire department involving towns and fire districts around the Iowa Great Lakes makes sense and should be explored. That was the concensus of the Wahpeton City Council which met in special session Monday evening to discuss the future of that city’s fire protection. Wahpeton currently contracts with Milford for the service, but city officials feel they haven’t been able to give input on plans to build a new fire station in Milford…even though Wahpeton pays about 25 percent of the department’s annual budget. Wahpeton has approached the Spirit Lake and Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire Departments to see if they’d be willing to contract with the city. But in written responses, both departments have declined, siting a concern over distance.
After learning of those responses, Mayor Mike McDonough says the council has decided to meet with the Milford City Council to make sure its aware of Wahpeton’s concerns. Following that, McDonough says he’ll meet with mayors of the various cities in the lakes corridor to see if they would be interested in starting up talks of a regional fire department with the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors.
When it comes to a regional fire department, Wahpeton city council members indicated the city would be willing to provide a facility house atleast one pumper truck and possibly atleast one person trained to operate it. Several possible options were outlined, including one to build a new maintenance building on the former Back Porch property, and converting the existing maintenance building to a fire station.
So how do you feel about the regional fire department issue? Sound off by taking our Explore Okoboji On-Line Poll. Go to our homepage and click on the “take our poll” icon.
