Posted: 1/30/07
City council approves purchase of four generators
By Jane Palen
Managing Editor
The City of Caledonia and its residents will benefit from "government waste" by purchasing four generators at a fraction of their value.
Caledonia Fire Chief Chuck Gavin and fireman Matt Hoscheit discussed the generators with the city council on January 22. The four generators are available from the DNR, and were previously used by the Department of Defense. The price for all four was $2,000 plus transportation. The city agreed to the purchase.
The largest of the generators is a 200 kw self-contained unit with a 200 gallon fuel tank (diesel). It was used for fewer than five hours. A generator like that would normally sell for around $49,000, according to Gavin.
Another generator is a 125 kw unit used about 200 hours with a value of about $12,000. That unit needs an oil gauge.
The other units are a 30 kw self-contained unit valued at about $15,000 which will be used by the police department, and a 50 kw unit valued at about $9,000.
One of the generators will be used to provide power to the auditorium, city hall and fire barn in the event of a power outage. The city would also be able to use a generator to keep water service going in the event of a prolonged power outage. Councilman Robert Standish remarked that some areas of the country were without power for days because of ice storms.
"This is a huge step forward for civil defense," said Gavin.
The council asked Hoscheit if he wanted payment for the wagon on which the largest generator is sitting. He said he did not want to be paid for the wagon,
"Iím just so happy you guys are going along with this," he said. "On one hand itís government waste, but itís good that we got them."
Comprehensive plan
The council also reviewed the cityís comprehensive plan and fine-tuned some of the language. The plan will now be reviewed by the county and by Mayville and Caledonia Townships before a public hearing is held.
Partial payment made
The council agreed to a payment of $7,209 to Steve Bauer /Caledonia Lumber for materials and service already provided for the construction of a new garage for the electric department. Installation of the concrete floor has been delayed due to weather, but walls have already been built off-site.
On another matter, the council approved a land trade with Bauer, trading 6,000 sq. ft. at the present Caledonia Lumber location for the same amount at Caledonia Lumberís new location on Highway 44/76. The city owns part of the land on which the present Caledonia Lumber business is located. The land the city will receive in return is located in a low-lying area and in the future may be used for construction of a lift station.
Ambulance billings reviewed
The council had the opportunity to review the billings for the city ambulance service from July of 2004 through December of 2006.
Of nearly $317,900 in billings for that period, almost 30 percent ($58,685) was written off, mostly due to Medicare. The city is required to accept the Medicare assignment for ambulance service and is not allowed to bill the patient for the difference. Abut 55 percent of the ambulance calls are for Medicare patients. Write-offs for Medicare alone were $51,236.
Other write-offs were for Medicaid, bankruptcy, insurance and workersí compensation adjustments, and deceased patients with no estate.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com