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News Police After 18 years of contracting for Police Services through the Village of Birchwood, the Town of Cedar Lake terminated the relationship effective October 12, 2010 and has started our own police department. The Town of Cedar Lake appointed a Police Commission to oversee the establishment of the Four Corners Police Department; the three commissioners are Dave Dhein, Dale Campbell and Duayne Bothun. The Four Corners Police Department was formed to enhance but not replace the Barron County Sheriffs’ Department. Because Cedar Lake is in the far northeastern corner of Barron County and because of the remoteness of many of the homes and roads in our Town, we have for many years engaged in extra police coverage to assist in providing additional public safety. Because the Town of Birchwood is in the far south eastern corner of Washburn County, the Town of Edgewater is in the far southwestern corner of Sawyer County and the Town of Wilson is in the far northwestern corner of Rusk County they face similar challenges. Therefore, because one day we may all use the same Police Services, the Town chose to call the department the Four Corners Police Department. After conducting a nine month search the Police Commissioners hired Robert ‘R J’ Severude as the Four Corners Police Chief effective August 1, 2011. R J has over 17 years of law enforcement background, is a Barron County native and was most recently the Police Chief of Frederick, Wisconsin. Please see the Four Corners Police Department tab for more information. The Police Commissioners oversee the Four Corners Police Department and each serve three year staggered terms. They are not paid and put in a great deal of time and effort carrying out their responsibilities. Be sure to thank them. Town Shop We celebrated the grand opening for the Town Shop in September 2006 with over 100 residents in attendance. It is state of the art and built to handle the Town’s needs for many years to come. We are working with Barron County to have them keep up to three County trucks in the shop during the winter season. This will allow those plowing to get to their trucks more quickly, get the roads plowed more quickly, and to save fuel. We have already agreed to rent a space to the County for one truck in the shop for $1,500 for the season. Our timing on financing the shop could not have been better. Brill State Bank gave us the best finance option at $400,000 @ 3.75% for 10 years fixed. BIRCHWOOD FOUR CORNERS EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT (BFCESD) January 1, 2008 the Town of Cedar Lake joined with five other Towns (Birchwood, Wilson, Edgewater, Long Lake and Doyle) and the Village of Birchwood to form the BFCESD. The BFCESD provides fire protection for all of the member municipalities, except the northern half of the Town of Birchwood and ambulance service for all but Doyle, Long Lake(July,2012) and one half of Cedar Lake and the Town of Birchwood. The BFCESD is a newly created government entity whose sole purpose is to provide emergency services for its members. The Birchwood Volunteer Fire Department and Birchwood Ambulance Service both report to the District. Each Town and the Village have a commissioner and the seven commissioners make up the Board for the Birchwood Four Corners Emergency Services District. Previously the six Towns had contracted with the Village of Birchwood for their fire and ambulance service and the Village of Birchwood Board made all decisions regarding fire and ambulance service. For many years the Village had an advisory group made up of all the contracted Towns who gave opinions on budget and coverage issues, but did not have any authority. The Village Board frequently found itself in a difficult position, elected to serve the Village but voting on emergency services that affected not only the Village but six other Towns. In 2007 the advisory group began having discussions about forming an emergency services district that would be singularly focused on public safety. Art Johnson, a Village Board member, had previously been involved in a fire district and was able to give some helpful insight into the benefits of forming a District. After several months of discussions and help from each of the Towns and the Village incorporation papers were developed and resolutions passed by each of the member entities endorsing the BFCESD. While services remain the same and the Birchwood Volunteer Fire Department and the Birchwood Ambulance Service have not changed, there are several potential benefits to the formation of the BFCESD. First when decisions need to be made about emergency services they are made at the monthly BFCESD meetings and they are the only thing on the agenda. Each Town and the Village have one vote and the only issues that are dealt with are those of Public Safety as handled by the BFCESD. The next area is the potential to qualify for more grant money as a District that includes six Towns, one Village and includes four different Counties. In today’s environment, intergovernmental cooperation is encouraged and favored by many of the groups looking at grant requests. In addition our composition may qualify for more types of grants including those that are given for the purchase of land and buildings. Each of the member entities is in the far corner of their respective County and quite a ways from County evacuation shelters. We will be pursuing the building of a new Fire/Ambulance building that would include facilities for an evacuation shelter providing we can get most of the funding for it through grants. The BFCESD meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30pm. Starting in January and every other month the meeting is at the Birchwood Village Hall. Beginning in February at the Town of Birchwood, every other month the meeting is held in one of the Towns with April - Cedar Lake, June - Doyle, August - Edgewater, October - Long Lake and December - Wilson.
The mailing address for the BFCESD is:
The commissioners are: |
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