Members of the Hancock County Technical Rescue Team train in 2019.
Daily Reporter file photo
HANCOCK COUNTY — Officials in charge of county government’s finances are preparing to approve hundreds of thousands of dollars for various public safety purposes.
The funds are going toward special rescue equipment for firefighters, 20 new police cars, a couple new 911 telecommunicators and a tornado siren for Wilkinson.
At its meeting earlier this month, the Hancock County Council indicated its plans to advertise an appropriation of over $80,000 requested by the Sugar Creek Township Fire Department for the Hancock County Technical Rescue Team. The council will vote on the appropriation at its meeting next month after determining a source for the funds to come from.
Chief Brandon Kleine of the Sugar Creek Township Fire Department said the county technical rescue team dates back to 2006 and currently consists of about 40 members from his department and the Greenfield Fire Territory. Members train to specialize in several kinds of rescue situations, including confined spaces, rope rescues, trench rescues, structural collapses, water rescues, wilderness searches, vehicle and machinery extrication, and grain bin rescues.
The team is a county-wide asset and even a regional one, Kleine said, adding it’s gone on over 60 technical rescue runs in the county in the past five years and five outside the county.
“We are at the point now where our team is needed in this county more than ever,” Kleine said.
The funds the council is preparing to vote on would replace old equipment the technical rescue team uses, Kleine said, some of which has outdated parts that are difficult to find replacements for.
Funding would provide equipment to aid in rescues involving persons trapped in large, heavy objects like a flipped semitractor-trailer or train car, Kleine said. Other gear that’s part of the request can be used to stabilize structures in instances of vehicles crashing into buildings. Special airbags can be used to lift heavy objects and in trenches to stabilize sidewalls should the soil shift.
Kleine noted there are a lot of open trenches throughout the county for purposes like utility work and building foundations.
He said he appreciates the council’s intentions to vote on the funding.
“We’re thankful they understood and were gracious enough to do that for us,” he said.
The council will also vote next month on over $128,000 for the Wilkinson Volunteer Fire Department. Chief Matt Decker said the funds would replace 15 air packs that are about 20 years old. That would include 15 masks, 30 air bottles and a unit that could be used for a firefighter trapped and out of air.
“We’re thankful that they’re willing to follow through and fund that for us,” said Decker of the county council.
While council members couldn’t vote on the appropriations at their recent meeting due to the need to advertise them ahead of time, officials expressed their intentions to support the requests.
Bill Bolander, council president, said the special rescue equipment is particularly important when considering the county’s agricultural areas.
“I think it’s well worth it,” Bolander said.
Also up for a council vote next month is over $87,000 for two new 911 telecommunicators from mid-June through the end of the year. The money would come from the county’s 911 local income tax and 911 surcharge fund. John Jokantas, Hancock County 911 director, said that would grow his team to a total of 23 operations staff. He plans to seek two more employees in his 2023 budget in an effort to keep up with the county’s population growth.
Additionally, the council plans to vote next month on a contribution toward a total of about $760,000 for 20 2022 Chevrolet Tahoes expected to join the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department fleet in June. Over $200,000 of that amount has already been earmarked by the Hancock County Redevelopment Commission. The rest is slated to come from federal stimulus dollars the county is receiving from the American Rescue Plan Act and the county’s economic development income tax.
Sheriff Brad Burkhart said the brakes were slammed on initial plans to lease the vehicles from Enterprise after the company couldn’t secure enough amid persisting volatile economic conditions. The county was able to buy the vehicles from a Fort Wayne dealer, however.
The council also voted to appropriate up to $30,000 from the county’s food and beverage tax to replace an old tornado siren in Wilkinson that has failed.
