by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
The Sartell-LeSauk Fire Department will soon get a refurbished rescue boat.
At the Aug. 12 Sartell City Council meeting, Sartell Fire Chief Ken Heim explained the department’s dilemma. It has a rescue boat it bought in 1994, but the bottom of the boat is rotting and cannot be used safely. The department is due in 2014 to buy a new rescue boat with money from the equipment fund. However, Heim said it would be best to repair the current boat and keep it as a second boat when and if the department buys a new one.
Why not buy a new one and forget about the old boat?, the council members asked.
Heim said it’s because it takes time to research buying a new boat, and the department does not want to be without a rescue boat for very long. Heim said it would be good to repair the boat also because it would be nice for the department to have a second rescue boat. In any case, if the boat is repaired it could be sold or used as a trade-in when and if the department gets its new one.
The repair, estimated to cost about $6,500, would be done by a firm in Bloomington. It would require building a new boat body but keeping the boat’s current trailer, light bar and 30-horsepower motor. All of those are in very good shape, Heim noted.
The boat is a 1994 Zodiac.
The council agreed unanimously to Heim’s request and authorized the department to spend up to $7,000 for the necessary repairs.