Latest news with #MitchellFireDepartment
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Davison County board approves purchase of $65K dive rescue boat
Apr. 17—MITCHELL — Davison County approved purchasing a nearly $65,000 dive rescue boat on Tuesday, signing off on the purchase via 3-1 vote. Davison County Emergency Management Director Jeff Bathke said the boat will be used by the county's Search and Rescue unit, which is made up of local volunteers of an eight-member dive team and overseen by the Emergency Management department. It will replace a 14-foot inflatable boat with a 25-horsepower motor. The Davison County Commission approved the purchase on Tuesday, April 15 during its regular meeting at the Davison County North Offices. Commissioners Mike Blaalid, John Claggett and Chris Nebelsick voted in favor of the purchase, while Commission Chairman Randy Reider voted no. Commissioner Denny Kiner was not present. Reider said the city of Mitchell already has purchased a rescue boat, which is used by the Mitchell Fire/EMS Department. The division purchased a similar-sized boat model in 2024 and the Mitchell Fire Department is one of a few professional firefighting staffs in South Dakota that is water-rescue trained. "The city of Mitchell has one of these, which when I asked there, they said we can borrow it," Reider said. "It just seems like there are a lot of boats in this area. I know we're on the (James River) and I get why Yankton has two (boats) but I noticed in the proposal that search and rescue would go out and assist other counties. Wouldn't Yankton do that for us if we used it?" Bathke said Search and Rescue is one of a handful of agencies that gets called for training exercises and emergency responses. "Whenever we have an exercise, there's multiple agencies on the scene," Bathke said. "There's multiple counties, South Dakota (Department of Criminal Investigation), the sheriff's office, fire departments are there." "For me, it's about having as much as we can for all of your training exercises. We've been a promoter of those events and this will be part of that," Claggett said in support of the purchase. The boat and trailer cost estimate is $64,930 for a 16-foot double-hull boat with a 60-horsepower motor from RescueOne Connector Boats, which makes boats geared toward emergency response teams. It's being purchased from a seller in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Bathke said he believes he can save on the shipping costs of the boat by driving to Michigan and picking it up and returning it to Mitchell. The county's share of the costs will be much smaller, coming out at around $24,500. That's because the proposal has $40,280 covered by federal Department of Homeland Security grant funding. This is not the first time there's been overlap in local resources between Search and Rescue and the Mitchell Fire Department. In 2024, there was a dustup between Search and Rescue and the Mitchell Fire over firefighters and EMS being able to use one of the county's two utility task vehicles (UTVs). Search and Rescue balked at letting fire personnel keep a UTV at the fire hall to take with them on calls, instead requiring Search and Rescue to be additionally called to respond. The two entities couldn't come together on sharing equipment and the issue was dropped at the county level when Mitchell Fire/EMS raised funds to purchase its own UTV. Bathke said the Search and Rescue unit has about $100,000 in training and equipment into it, and "about 98% of it has been funded by Homeland Security." He said the current inflatable boat is used about eight times a year, mostly for trainings. "I don't think the county has paid anything on our dive teams, aside from my training and training for (Deputy Administrator Karen Wegleitner)," Bathke said. Bathke said the last notable searches that the dive team was involved in were both in the James River. They included a 2023 Beadle County search for Rachel Cyriacks, who has been missing since 2013, and the 2024 drowning of a Hutchinson County boy near Parkston. In the latter case, search teams from Yankton, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks and a specialized dive team from Canada joined. "The more agencies you get to respond, the quicker you can get the job done," said Bathke. Bathke said he requested permission for the dive rescue boat in 2024 and that funding was approved at the Homeland Security level for partial funding. He's pursuing another $4,000 grant that, if approved, would help cover the county's cost of the boat.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Car parts, washing machines and trash bring criticism for unincorporated community of Loomis
Mar. 14—MITCHELL — It's time for a clean up in Loomis. The Davison County Commission sounded off recently on the state of the small unincorporated community, which was maligned about the status of many of the properties in the burgh located northwest of Mitchell. Davison County Planning and Zoning Deputy Administrator Karen Wegleitner said recent calls and complaints have shed light on the poor status of properties at the townsite. "There was trash everywhere, houses that have windows broken out of them," Wegleitner said of a recent visit. "There's car parts, washers and dryers outside. ... But it's unincorporated, and there's not much we can do about it right now." The town is less than a 1/4-square mile in size and has about 30 residents, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. It's not officially an incorporated town, meaning the territory is generally treated like any other rural part of the county, although there are some variations for Loomis because it's zoned as a platted town site residential district. Wegleitner said the issue started with a complaint to the Mitchell Fire Department about the fire risk in Loomis about a specific property that had a large trash pile and was potentially going to be burned. That was passed on to the Letcher Fire Department, which is responsible for fire coverage in Loomis. "He has neighbors all around him, and there would have been a problem with the fumes and the smell and the fire risk overall with how dry it has been," Wegleitner said. The commissioners, discussing the issue on March 11, were not impressed with the status of the community's upkeep. "Loomis has been like that since I was a kid," Commissioner Denny Kiner said. "There's probably three or four that are in good shape." "With Loomis, you've got a whole town, except for two or three houses, that have issues," Commissioner Chris Nebelsick said. "We have to clean it up." Nebelsick said it's not a problem that is exclusive to Loomis, citing a rural Ethan property that has dilapidated property and old cars that have been sitting in one place for 20 years, he said. "We've got nuisance properties around the county and we don't have any teeth to have anyone to clean it up," Nebelsick said. "The townships can send notices and get lawyers involved and spend this money and nothing ever happens." Commissioner John Claggett believes the county should have a stronger nuisance ordinance. He recalled that when an attempt to enact one about 25 years ago occurred, citizens protested about it being too overreaching about what had to be cleaned up. "I think when they wrote it back then, they were too loose," Claggett said. "Nuisance ordinances have more applicability today that they didn't have back then because people don't want you to have their junk in their view." "Whatever you do will affect the county," Kiner said. "It's a tough nut to crack." "That's what we have to watch," added Commission Chairman Randy Reider. "There's an awful lot of places that have four or five cars out there on their property and a tractor but most people wouldn't consider that a nuisance. And I don't think that's what we're considering here." Wegleitner said she has not yet taken action on the property with the trash and burnpile because the resident there has vowed to get a dumpster. She said any further recourse likely would need to be handled by the state, she said, and in this case, by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "Since we're in the process of changing, or potentially changing our ordinances, I figured I would bring it up so we can discuss if there's a way we can have a little more say for nuisances," Wegleitner said. "I get that you're in a rural area, but they're still residences. They're in a residential area." She added that the best policy still remains giving the property owner ample time to correct the issue before having to get the state or county government involved. Wegleitner expects the potential ordinance changes regarding nuisances to continue to get discussion with the Davison County Planning Commission and the County Commission, but no timeline has been discussed to officially consider those changes.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Marshall Mitchell: Mitchell fire union's Chase the Ace smolders out after reaching UTV fundraiser goal
Feb. 21—MITCHELL — Where has the ace of hearts gone? The Mitchell Fire Department union's UTV fundraiser Chase the Ace is missing in action. Union and fire administration have cited department-wide flu, venues falling through and changes in union leadership for dropping the deck on what was previously a regular drawing that raised funds to pay off a UTV that was purchased for the fire department. The Chase the Ace raffle, with the most recent drawing on Jan. 3 and along with donations and grants, reached the fundraising goal and the UTV was purchased. "With the closure of the Back 40, we were as surprised as everybody else," said former Mitchell fire union president Shannon Sandoval, who spearheaded the Chase the Ace fundraiser. "The event had slowed down with winter months. It was good to kind of put a quick pause on it, giving us time to figure out how we could finish it, because at that point, we had had enough donations to finance the project fully." Mitchell's fire union, chapter 4166, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, purchased the $37,700 Cam-Am Defender utility vehicle and installed a skit kit for $5,000. Headlights and other amenities have also been purchased. A commissioning celebration at Iverson Powersports is forthcoming. In August 2024, the fire union organized a raffle during Dakotafest, but was interrupted when a citizen brought the topic to Davison County Administrator Jeff Bathke, who forwarded the concern to the auditor's office , who then called the Davison County Sheriff's Office to shut them down for not notifying their office of the raffle. The current jackpot is $8,366. Under the Chase the Ace rules, one raffle ticket will be drawn, which gives the ticket holder the chance to choose a card off the board looking for the ace of hearts. Drawing that card entitles the winner to 50% of the jackpot. The Chase the Ace raffle was held at the Back 40 Taphouse Grill from September 2024 until the location closed in January. The event started at the VFW Post 2750 in June 2024 and was held weekly until October, when it became a monthly drawing. On Jan. 17, the 4166 union's Facebook page said that Chase the Ace was taking a break. No public update has been released since. The Mitchell Republic inquired to the Mitchell Fire Department about the UTV fundraiser the fourth week of January, and again the second week of February, but fire officials did not have an exact date for the next drawing or the UTV commissioning. Fire Chief Dan Pollreisz told the Mitchell Republic on Feb. 18 that the final Chase the Ace jackpot drawing would most likely be held March 8 at the Masonic Temple following an EMS refresher course in the main hall, but union leaders indicated that this date may not work for the venue as there was already an evening event to be held there. Finally, the temple agreed to let the union use an upper room for the fundraiser. "We just didn't want to put a burden on another business for the benefit of the fire department, so we thought this would be the best way to do that," Sandoval said. Before the recent changes in leadership at the firehouse , Sandoval resigned as union president and went back to the floor. Sandoval had duties as fire marshal, union president, running the weekly UTV fundraiser and a home inspection business on the side. "I had just worn myself a little thin. I needed a quick reset," Sandoval said. The Masonic Temple, which is offering its venue to the fire union for an administrative fee, will have a cash bar open during the Chase the Ace final drawing. Any alcohol sales for the night would go to the lodge and not to the fire union, according to Sandoval. The Chase the Ace fundraiser started with 52 cards and ran for 22 weeks. There are 30 cards left. Union leaders have not decided if there will be prizes for drawing a losing card, as there was for the first 22 weeks, when a losing card would win 10% of the proceeds raised that week. A Pink Ladies dart league in Hudson, a South Dakota town with a population of 311, raised about $350,000 through donations and raffle tickets for a Chase the Queen fundraiser to help cancer survivors. The fundraiser lasted until there was only three cards left. The fire union will share 50/50 of the pot with the person who finds the ace of hearts. For every dollar the pot grows, the more money the fire union will have and the less fundraising they'll have to do. The more opportunities for the pot to grow, the more money for the union and for winning ticket holders. The fire union has a potential 30 more weeks to run the fundraiser, but is choosing to end it in one night. "We talked about removing some (cards) to make it go faster," said Tom Schaffner, who is the union secretary/treasurer and a firefighter/EMT. Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 at the event or through the union's Venmo account ahead of the event in increments of $10. "We will be doing a rapid fire drawing so someone will win the pot that night. We will keep drawing until someone finds the ace of hearts," Sandoval said. The final drawing will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 in an upper room of the Masonic Temple.
