• Plans to upgrade the south side of the fire hall with a new concrete apron continued during the monthly Fire District Board meeting on Monday. The current apron is breaking up and badly needs to be fixed.
• Members of the fire board have looked into the cost of the new apron, and the money was set aside in next year's budget. The board will finish up the specifications for the project and look to start taking bids sometime after the first of the year, probably in February.
• The new door locks for the Groton and Bath buildings have been purchased. Only one has been installed so far, the rest will be done as weather allows.
• Groton will have five to six firemen taking the certification class in January. This is a mandated class, all firemen must be certified.
• Groton Fire Chief Dion Bahr reported that four sets of new bunker gear have been ordered, two for Groton and two for Bath. They should be here soon. The new float pump has also been ordered. The last pump was damaged in a fire and insurance will pay to replace it.
• Bahr also requested permission to purchase five external speakers for the fire engines. It seems the speakers in the truck don't always allow the person working on the truck, monitoring the water pressure and levels to hear the radio over the noise. The new speakers would free up a radio now being used for this purpose. The approval was given to place the order.
• The second allotment of tax money was received, Brown County sent $54,975.22 and Day County paid $774.68. The tax money that is received from the counties is what is used to help maintain and support the fire department. This money also helps cover the cost of fires that the department can't bill for, such as a ditch grass fire. The department had several such fires this last fall.
• It was reported to the board that the working relationship with Bath is still good.
• "When there is a fire call," Dale Ringgenberg said. "They get on the radio ask if we need any help. The communications between Groton and Bath have been good."
• Over the last four years Dale Ringgenberg has paid his own way to attend the National Fire Convention in Indianapolis, IN. Each time he has brought back good information and added knowledge for the department. Ringgenberg plans to attend again this year and it was brought to the boards attention that it would be beneficial to send Ringgenberg and one other member of the department to this convention. The board agreed that this was a good learning resource and will pay the costs of airfare and motel rooms for two people. The estimated cost is only $1000. In the past the cost of the rooms has been shared with Aberdeen Fire and Aberdeen Rural, and that will continue.