Plains City Council approves firemen incentives

In response to the precarious shortage of manpower, the Plains Fire Department received the town council's blessing to officially adopt the Firefighter Incentive Program to draw needed volunteers.

Each firefighter will receive $150 a year after accomplishing 30 hours of training and an additional $50 for 40 hours, according to Chief Anthony Young, who started with the department four years ago and took over as chief in January 2017. In addition, a person would get $10 per call up to $100 a year.

"I think it is a good way to show appreciation for what we do. I know that this is not why we volunteer, but it is nice to be able to give a little back to those who give so much," said Young, who briefed the town council at its February meeting last Monday. Young wasn't sure how long an incentive program had been in place, but it was an unofficial program. Former Chief Jason Williams, now the assistant chief, and Young revised the program two years ago to make it more of a merit system.

Young said that the way it was done in the past wasn't fair because everyone got the same, even if they didn't go the extra effort or put in the additional hours. The former program wasn't fair because "the guy that busts his ass got the same as the one who didn't," he said. "I think the program now in place is suited to reward the people who go the extra mile and show we appreciate it." The new incentive program also has a $100 officer bonus for the three officers on the department, Young, Williams, and Tom Zeigler, a captain on the department. There is also a $100 annual bonus for the top responder, which Young took last year because he participated in the most calls. Zeigler and Nate Owens were the two runners up and received $50 a piece.

Young hopes the new incentive program will bring in new recruits. The department has only 10 volunteers, nine men and one woman. Young would like to have 12-15 members.

The council also unanimously approved to concur with the recommendations of a Kalispell firm's Preliminary Engineering Report to stop the continued erosion of land at the town's lagoon. Mayor Dan Rowan said the entire project will cost over $1-million. The town's actual cost, he hopes, will be just over $123,000. The rest will come from four grants that they will start applying for starting in March. The mayor said that the project won't start unless the town gets the grants. The mayor said the erosion has gone from about 300 feet from shore to about 100 over the last 20 years.

In addition to the erosion problem, he's been told that they'll have to pay for sludge removal, which is about $300,000, which he said will have to be dealt with in the next five to seven years. Rowan also notified the council that the two lift pumps will need to be replaced at a cost of around $27,000, which includes installation. The lift pumps are used to push raw sewage to the lagoon for treatment. The present pumps are about 15 years old and have already gone past their life expectancy, said Rowan. "If those go down, we'd have a real problem," said Rowan.

Plans to repair Farmer Street, the first road to be fixed under the new Road District Tax, took a setback after a property owner decided not to sell a small lot to the town in order to install a drainage system. One option was to dig under Railroad Street and drain into an area on the greenway, but Rowan said that would cost over $137,000. A new option is to put drainage in a town right away between Blake Street and McGowan Street, which would cost about $55,000 for the entire project.

Water leaks continue to be a problem. Rowan told the council the town pumped 6,989,000 gallons of water, but sold only 3,3216,000, which meant a loss of 46.02 percent, a testament to the need to continue the replacement of the old galvanized and copper water pipes, which public works has been working on the last two years. One of the copper pipes broke last week on Third Street. Rowan said they have about another 400 to replace, which can be done only during the summer months. He proposed hiring two temporary workers this summer to help speed up the process.

Rowan also addressed the council about the proposed new fire hall, which is planned to be erected on town owned property on Fourth Street at an estimated cost of $400,000, which would mostly be covered by grants, if approved. However, Rowan said that in talking with a architect, the cost might be upwards of $625,000. He told the council that a Plains resident has property adjacent to the present fire department, which is shared with public works, that he might be interested in trading for the Fourth Street property. Rowan said a building could be constructed on the nearer property where public works could stow its grader and dump truck, which would give the fire department additional space and eliminate the need for a new building. He said the trade would cost dramatically less than a new fire hall.

Nevertheless, he said the present fire hall/public works building will need major repairs, regardless of which department remains there. "The roof is leaking. The electrical system is outdated and overloaded and is not adequate for the needs of the fire department or public works," said Rowan. "It would not be good if our fire department burned down," he said. Rowan said that it will cost an estimated $10,000 for electrical work and $15,000 for roof repair.

At City Hall, the town will be putting in a pay window in the main hall to help with security measures and keeping the door to the office closed. "We've had some characters come in and the clerks were concerned with their own safety," said Rowan. He said they plan to cut a hole in the wall and insert a window where customers can slip in their payments. He said they plan to install the four-foot window in March and it would cost around $1,500.

The town has put on hold erecting one way signs for the town lanes to address opposition by some residents. The town attorney suggested the lanes be made one way to alleviate any liabilities because there isn't room for two-way traffic. Rowan said they might make exceptions based on reasonable concerns.

The town continues to research the idea of law that addresses people with cluttered or unsightly yards. The mayor discovered that the town has a nuisance ordinance and what people have been complaining about could come under the Health and Welfare segment. He said there are parts of the two-page ordinance that need to be clarified and changed. The town is looking at a similar ordinance used by Manhattan in central Montana, which has about the same population as Plains.

A resident recently addressed the council after a realtor told him she didn't think his house would sell because of a neighbor's cluttered yard. Rowan had said that if a person's yard is a health problem, a fire hazard, or doing harm to a neighbor's property, there needs to be something done. He said the town attorney would be available to meet on this issue if needed.