Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Operations Trailer topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ranlo board approves purchase of mobile emergency operations trailer package
Summary
The Ranlo board voted to approve moving forward with a fully outfitted mobile emergency operations trailer package (quoted around $89,000) intended to serve as a mobile command and rehabilitation unit during incidents and events; staff said the trailer would be self-sufficient and reduce reliance on county mutual-aid assets.
The Ranlo Town Council voted to move forward with acquiring a fully outfitted mobile emergency operations trailer package to improve on-scene command, cooling and medical-rehab capacity during local incidents.
Council member (speaker 4), who introduced the proposal, described recent events — including a search for a missing child in high temperatures — where “there was no general location for command” and responders lacked a climate-controlled place to cool overheated residents or coordinate operations. Speaker 4 said the trailer would provide air conditioning, restroom facilities and a unified command space for police, fire and EMS.
Staff (speaker 5/Charlie) presented the package as a turnkey option intended to avoid piecemeal outfitting: “What you have listed there… would be the price for the trailer and all the associated items that would go in it, that would make it live and ready,” he said, underscoring that the quote covered equipment to make the trailer deployable.
Board discussion covered cost and logistics. Staff and a council member described the package price as about $89,000; council members asked whether town vehicles could tow the trailer and whether equipping existing pickups (airbag suspension) would be cheaper than buying a new truck. Chief Lunschmann recommended modifying current pickups, estimating about $4,000 per truck to equip them to tow, rather than purchasing replacement vehicles.
Officials also said the trailer would include four display monitors to allow incident commanders to view weather, drone footage and operational feeds simultaneously, and that one person could set up the unit. Staff noted neighboring jurisdictions had provided trailers during past local incidents but that having Ranlo’s own resource would improve response speed and reduce dependence on county assets.
After questions and discussion the presiding officer called for a motion; the board made and seconded a motion and the presiding officer asked “All in favor?” with affirmative responses, indicating the council approved moving forward with the proposal (motion text not specified verbatim in the transcript). The motion and second were recorded on the meeting record but exact mover/second names and a roll-call tally were not provided in the transcript.
The council did not specify a maintenance or annual-operating cost during the discussion. Staff said there is minimal recurring personnel cost to operate the trailer; insurance and tire maintenance were noted as likely ongoing expenses but no dollar estimate for annual maintenance was given. The package discussion included an option to transfer an existing golf cart to the recreation department if a UTV was purchased as part of the trailer package.
Next steps: staff will proceed with the procurement steps to acquire the package, and the council’s approval authorizes staff to move forward with purchasing and outfitting the unit. The meeting record did not show a contract number, vendor name, or final purchase order at the time of the discussion.
