At a recent Select Board meeting, new Ambulance Chief Steven Desrosiers suggested to the board that the ambulance purchase a used vehicle to act as a rapid response vehicle. When ambulance members are on-call at home, they would have the vehicle with them. The idea, explained Select Board member Kermit Williams, would be to have a minimal amount of town-owned medical equipment in the vehicle, so the EMT or Paramedic could begin medical treatment immediately if they arrived ahead of the ambulance. 

“If they’re there first, and the ambulance hasn’t gotten there, they don’t have the equipment to deal with a heart attack or something else where time can be of the essence,” said Williams. 

The Select Board approved a proposal to bid on a used four-wheel drive vehicle that Desrosiers identified as a likely prospect to be used as a rapid response vehicle, up to a cost of $8,000. The bidding went above the town’s maximum, however, and the vehicle went to another bidder. 

At its Nov. 6 commission works session, an amendment to the county budget was approved. A second vote will be required at the commission meeting Monday for construction to proceed.  

The estimated opening date for the new station is June 30 next year, said Ambulance Service Director Donny Bear.

Town Administrator Joel Gregozeski said the vote could come through a special town meeting or a referendum.

"They are looking at all election periods in 2018 for a possible referendum," Gregozeski told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

If the project is approved, the final design work would take three to four months. "It would likely be a late 2018 or early 2019 construction, at the very earliest," Gregozeski said.

The new pumper replaces a truck that has seen 26 years of duty for the local fire department. “We have been needing this purchase for a long time now,” said DFD Chief Raul Mercado.

The truck was purchased through a state grant ($100,000) and $173,000 in the Federal Fire Protection Fund. The federal money is handed out to communities in all states and is based on ISO (Insurance Service Office) ratings for fire protection. The DFD has maintained a 4 rating for the past six years, with a 1 rating being the highest on a scale of ten. The ratings fare well for home owners when it comes to insurance premiums and for property tax purposes based on a fire department’s readiness.

Authorities were called about 1:45 a.m. Sunday to the report of a fight at a party and arrived to find an unconscious person in the front yard, police said in the summary.

When the person regained consciousness, he told police he'd been punched by an unknown person while trying to break up a fight.

While firefighters were at the scene, a suspected intoxicated driver clipped their firetruck, police said.