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Much of the Amador Township meeting centered on the Almelund Fire Department and the changes and upgrades happening within the department.

The biggest change is that longtime fire chief Jason Fredlund announced will be stepping down. He said he was going to remain on the fire department but that he just had things that he wanted to do in his life and needs to take a step back from leading the department. Fredlund announced his decision at the end of his presentation, and he received a nice round of applause for his tenure. 

Ever the wisecracker, Fredlund closed his presentation by telling those gathered to “stay off of step ladders” as he was on crutches and hobbled due to a recent knee injury.

Fredlund said the department had 147 runs last year, including 95 medical and 52 fires. The calls were broken down between Amador, which had 48, Chisago Township, which had four, Shafer, which had 22 and Sunrise, which had 53 calls. There were 16 cancellations. Fredlund said their average response time was six minutes.

The department also received some sizable donations to go along with their purchases of new grass rigs and a fire truck. A rescue sled was donated by the Sno Barons and Hay Days committee, which was valued at $13,000, and Fredlund was very grateful to them. With the new sled, the department also needed a trailer. They were buying a used one from a private seller, but when the seller found out it was for a fire department, he decided to donate the trailer to them.

The grass rigs that the department bought were used  from the DNR and it upgrades the ones Almelund had in service. Their prior vehicles were 1986 trucks, and these are 2011 Ford F-150s that Fredlund got for $11,000 each, well below their retail value.

The new fire truck, which the township had bonded $765,000 for prior, was ordered and will arrive in mid-2025. Bob Linder, the township treasurer, said they don’t have to pay for the truck quite yet since it’s still a ways out, but they received the bond money, so he currently has it in treasury bonds earning more interest than they are paying.

The department also received a $5,000 DNR grant for wildland gear, and Fredlund said that the gear, coupled with recent standard gear upgrades and the new trucks and rigs “sets us up good for the future.”

Firefighter John Rocheleau, a five year veteran of the department, did speak in the open forum portion of the annual meeting and said that some firefighters had concerns about who will replace Jason. “No one knows this department better than us,” he said. “We want a voice in how the new fire chief is chosen.”

Rocheleau suggested a special meeting involving AFD members voting on chief candidates ballot and the process would whittle the candidates down until there is just one remaining. Because it was an open input portion, there was no supervisor response to his ideas.

On the township budget, the proposed annual 2025 budget,  passed unanimously by the 25 or so in attendance, will be rising from $410,000 to $420,000. The Parks & Recreation and Road & Bridge funds were each getting a $10,000 increase while the Fire Department was getting a $10,000 decrease. 

Supervisor Peter Johnson addressed the Road & Bridge report, saying the mild winter had been nice on their budget and saved some money. He said there weren’t any major projects upcoming, but did go on to address Maple Lane, which was slated for a project recently, but it had to be abandoned because the cost was too prohibitive. 

“We haven’t given up on Maple,” he said. “It just got too expensive last time, and we just have to go back to the drawing board.”

Supervisor Gene Fisk missed the meeting, so the township didn’t have the Parks & Recreation info or the recycling date on hand, but the other supervisors did say a postcard would be sent out with the recycling information on it. 

Supervisor Lin Strong was re-elected to her post. Strong ran unopposed and received all 21 votes that were cast.

The meeting, which began at 8:15, was adjourned at 8:57 p.m.

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