The Reno County Commission Tuesday unanimously approved the first raise for rural fire chiefs in 15 years and OK’d the purchase of a new firetruck for the Buhler fire district.

The board was divided, however, when Emergency Management Director Adam Weishaar proposed applying for federal dollars -- requiring a 25% county match -- to help homeowners in the county mitigate wildfire danger on private property.

The commission agreed to increase a stipend paid to the county’s eight rural fire chiefs to $500 per month, doubling the $250 a month the county has paid since 2007.

The resolution also allows up to two assistant fire chiefs in each district to collect $250 a month.

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When initially created, the county based its stipend on how many hours each chief reported spending on fire district activities, times the minimum wage. The pay ranged from $3,250 to $4,000 per year, depending on the department, Emergency Management Director Adam Weishaar advised the commission.

Pay was one of the issues brought up during an extensive fire service study last year. And now, with a county fire administrator in place, each district chief will be required to complete the same work, Weishaar said.

The board also approved Reno/Harvey Joint Fire District #2 purchasing a 2023 International HV607 Fire Tender from Osco Tank and Truck Sales of Orion, Illinois, for $272,357.

The truck, a demonstration model for the manufacturer, has a 3,200-gallon tank and pumping capacity of 1,250 gallons per minute (GPM). It was the lowest of four bids received from two companies.

It will replace a 2,000-gallon 1999 Freightliner with a 500 GPM pump purchased by the district in 2007 that it will sell on PurpleWave once the new tender is in service.

The purchase is in the county’s 2022 CIP budget, funded from the fire district’s Special Equipment Fund reserves, which contains more than $480,000.

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The county qualified to apply for the federal fire mitigation assistance grant, which could be “north of $500,000,” Weishaar said, after the county’s costs of fighting the Cottonwood Complex fire met its $239,000 minimum threshold.

Qualifying expenses include items such as “fireproofing” a home with fire-resistant roofing, siding, and doors, replacing wooden utility poles with steel, and creating defensible spaces within two miles of homes.

“It is not eligible to create fire breaks or buy prescribed burning equipment,” he said. “To me, it’s focusing more on individual homeowners and private property, rather than creating large fire breaks in the county or encouraging prescribed burns.”

The deadline to submit a “letter of interest” is June 10. A full application, which will require identifying a scope of work and budget, isn’t immediately due.

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“If you want me to put together an application, I can identify our high fire density areas and say we’re interested in creating some sort of project, including fuel reduction and building materials but not get into individual properties until we know how much money is available and what’s approved," Weishaar said.

"It does not commit the county to a dollar amount, but understand, it could cost a significant amount if you touch a lot of residences," he said.

Commissioner Ron Hirst immediately objected to applying for funds.

“It’s not the government’s role,” Hirst said. “It’s the individual’s responsibility and part of insurance’s role regarding the individual’s responsibility. We’re all paying for that 75% that’s federal. If the individual wants to pay the 25% that’s fine, but it’s not the county’s responsibility to fill the difference. I have trouble using taxpayer money for this.”

“I don’t disagree,” said Commission Chairman Daniel Friesen. “But we’re paying for it on the back end too, with all the emergency response. I think it’s a lot more expensive than actual mitigation, even if you have to spend a little bit on private land."

"There’s not great incentive now to do anything, and there’s something of great consequence if we don’t," Friesen said. "One person died, and 35 homes were lost because we haven’t mitigated the risk. We’re paying for all that. Emergency costs are 10 times more than mitigation costs.”

“So, I agree I don’t want to spend money making people take care of their own property, but at the same time, I don’t want Adam to spend money fixing up this mess either. I don’t like either direction, but I’d rather fix it before it happens,” Friesen said.

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Commissioner Ron Sellers questioned whether there would be time to complete the request by June 10 and suggested not going forward with it. But Friesen noted only a letter of interest was required.

“I’d like to ask Adam to send a letter of intent, to write something creative and go after as much money as possible,” Friesen said. “If you don’t want to pony up, we can see if we can find a way for landowners to pay for it. If not, we can say no. I don’t feel there’s any risk to ask.”

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Weishaar asked about the scope of the request, whether it should include building materials or fuel mitigation and creating defensible spaces for property owners.

Sellers said he supported the latter, but Friesen suggested he “go wide on it. You never know what you might get.”

With an understanding the board reserved the right to accept the grant or not if it was approved, Hirst joined the others in voting 3-0 to submit a letter of interest.