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City accepts public-safety grants and donations, awards fire station construction manager and approves EMS consolidation contracts
Summary
The council and finance committee accepted a $13,422 Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation grant and smaller grants and donations for the fire department, awarded construction management for new Fire Station 1 to CD Smith, and approved six-year consolidated EMS agreements with the towns of Wayne and Kewaskum.
West Bend officials approved multiple items affecting fire and emergency medical services: acceptance of grants and donations to the fire department, the award of a construction management contract for a new Fire Station 1, and consolidated EMS service agreements with two surrounding towns.
The Finance Committee and council approved a $13,422 grant from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. City staff said the grant is 100% funded with no city match and will purchase two interceptor power bikes, an e-bike stretcher and accessories to improve medical access at large events and park areas where ambulances have limited access. "This equipment will be really important for us to deploy during large scale events," the fire chief said. The grant application was prepared and submitted by Battalion Chief Forrester, staff said.
The council also accepted a $1,000 Kellman Cares grant to buy a battery-powered chainsaw and a battery-powered leaf blower for fire suppression, and it approved several donations to the department's smoke-detector and carbon-monoxide program totaling $1,700 in individual gifts plus larger gifts (a $500 trust donation and a $1,000 donation from Alpha Inc.). The council separately accepted a $100 donation from a former EMS patient to fund EMS equipment.
For capital work, the city recommended and approved a construction-management contract award for the new Fire Station 1 to CD Smith Construction after interviewing three firms (CD Smith, Findorff, and Scherer Construction). Staff said CD Smith's proposed construction-management fee for the project was presented in the selection memo; the selection committee recommended CD Smith. The city said contract documents will be finalized by administration and the city attorney before execution.
On EMS operations, council approved consolidated ambulance-transport service agreements with the town of Wayne and the town of Kewaskum. Staff described the two six-year agreements as part of a broader consolidation of ambulance transport across surrounding jurisdictions; each town will continue to provide first-responder services locally. The fire chief explained the fee structure: the city separated ambulance costs from the fire-department budget, subtracted ambulance user fees and applied about 30% of available SAFER grant funding to the first three years; the remaining deficit is spread on a per-capita basis among participating communities to produce a per-jurisdiction charge.
All grant acceptances, the construction-manager award recommendation, and the consolidated service agreements were approved by the Finance Committee and subsequently by the council where required.
