Breezy Point receives its fire services from adjacent
communities as the city does not have a fire department. Pequot Lakes Fire Department serves the
majority of the city while a portion of the community is served by Ideal
Township Fire Department.
In working with Pequot Lakes Fire Department the city has
established a “station” at the Public Safety Building in Breezy Point. This station has a pumper truck and is served
by a number of volunteers that report directly to that station in response to a
call.
The Pequot Lakes Fire Department serves a large area and
does so on a shared cost basis. The cost
of fire service is defined for each jurisdiction served by using several
factors. The main components of the
formula involve Use and Value. Value is considered
estimated market value, as determined by the county, of structures within the
area served. This obviously changes on
an annual basis. The use factor is the
number of calls averaged over a 10 year period.
Both of these factors are expressed as a percentage considering all
users of the fire service. These two
percentages are then added together and divided by 2. This factor is a percentage number that is
applied towards the budgeted cost for fire service for that year. The Ideal Fire Department uses a similar
formula to apportion costs.
Renewals of the fire contract are accomplished
annually. The renewals for both fire
contracts were approved at the April Council Meeting. The contract with Pequot Lakes saw a fairly
small increase. The contract with Ideal
Township was basically the same amount as that of 2012 but came with a notice
of increased costs for each of the next five years. The contract amount for service with them
would double with the 2015 contract period.
Options have been considered which included discussion with
Pequot Lakes Fire Department towards serving the entire community. The contract with Ideal was established prior
to the establishment of a fire station in Breezy Point. Response times from that station would be consistent
with those from Ideal. Preliminary costs
were received from Pequot Lakes Fire Department which showed a savings, however
a more specific calculation was requested.
In approving the contract for Ideal the council recognized
that a one year notice was required to be given if the contract was to be
amended or extinguished. The council
moved to give Ideal Fire Department preliminary notice of the change to service
through Pequot Lakes Fire Department subject to a better understanding of the
contract amounts the city would have for the expanded service area.
A decision to have all fire service provided by Pequot Lakes
for the city as a whole will be considered at the May Council meeting.
