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Echo council addresses training, maintenance coverage and budget timing; several purchases tabled
Summary
Fire Chief Matt Dunphy said training at the old Rock Valley store is not feasible and alternative training is planned; the council approved temporary coverage for maintenance while the supervisor is on vacation and set a $200-per-hour charge for mowing certain cleanup work; the proposed 2025 budget and purchase decisions on utility billing software and a replacement laptop were tabled until September.
Echo officials used the Aug. 12 meeting to address public-safety training, maintenance coverage and near-term budget and procurement timing.
Fire Chief Matt Dunphy told the council that after further evaluation the old Rock Valley store is not a feasible training site. The department plans to use another house on the edge of town for training, and Dunphy said Belview and Wood Lake may attend. He reported the department received new gloves for extrication equipment, will coordinate hose pressure testing with Wood Lake, and estimated turnout gear will be serviceable for another seven to eight years; he did not anticipate major equipment purchases in the 2025 budget.
Maintenance Supervisor Bryan Nielsen said he will be on vacation Oct. 18–26. Councilman Darren Gjerset moved, and Councilman Mark Schettler seconded, to have Tim Dhoore cover water and wastewater duties for that week; the motion carried with Councilmen Larsen and Hanson absent. The council also approved charging $200 per hour for mowing and cleanup of the Zabel property after staff reported it took five hours to mow.
Mayor James Busack reported on sidewalk patch work; Councilman Gjerset moved and Councilman Schettler seconded approval of the quote to patch the sidewalk in front of the Community Center, and the motion carried. Clerk Brian Pitzl briefed the council on administrative items: the primary election is Aug. 13 at the Community Center; the current utility billing software will be obsolete at year-end and demonstrations from vendors are ongoing; the clerk said a replacement office laptop would cost about $1,000 but the council agreed to defer software and laptop purchase decisions to the September meeting. The proposed 2025 budget was distributed with the levy unchanged and will be reviewed and decided at the September meeting before submission to the county by the end of September.
The meeting ended with routine adjournment at 8:05 p.m.
