Excerpts from the woodstockindependent.com:
With an extra $1.25 million a year from a voter-approved tax increase, the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District has big plans to add personnel and upgrade equipment, but until that property tax money starts rolling in about mid-2020, the Board of Trustees is sweating the small stuff.
At issue was how the district could find $5,250 to buy a barely used UTV from the Wonder Lake Fire District, an expense that wasn’t budgeted. Woodstock Chief Mike Hill wanted the vehicle as a brush truck, replacing a pickup truck mounted with a water tank and pump. The district’s brush truck was totaled in a traffic accident last winter, and insurance money went for a new pickup, but it’s not ideal for chasing field fires in muddy, swampy fields in rural areas.
In the end, the board figured it could draw on the district’s contingency fund, which had about $10,000.
The previous month, the board approved 4.5 percent raises for the district’s mechanic and the chief’s executive assistant, which Hill said he had budgeted.
In other business, the board was told a year-long study, Community Risk Assessment & Standards of Cover, has been completed to prepare the district for creating a four-year strategic plan. The report includes a history of the fire/rescue service, an inventory of human and physical resources, and a risk assessment of more than 900 buildings throughout the district.
The 86-page report one of the biggest administrative projects ever taken on by the district. The goal was to use the information to improve response times for the fire and ambulance service.
