County board to consider river rescue agreement

SHARING RESOURCES

The goal is, we have these resources and we want to make sure, when there’s an emergency, everyone has access to all the equipment at their disposal.”

Elliott Vandenberg, Lee County Sheriff

LEE COUNTY – The Lee County Sheriff’s office and City of Fort Madison are considering an agreement to share county river rescue equipment.
The Lee County Board of Supervisors will be considering the agreement at their regular meeting on Tuesday.
Under former Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber, the county had a water rescue program in place with a state-of-the-art rescue vessel and diving crew.  That boat had been being stored at the Lee County Economic Development Group’s Montrose facility, but is now on site at the sheriff’s office.
According to Fort Madison City Manager Laura Liegois, current Sheriff Elliott Vandenberg approached her about sharing the vessel due to Fort Madison Fire & Rescue having trained firefighters who could use the boat.
Liegois said the incident in June where a boater went into the water near the confluence of the Skunk and Mississippi Rivers and was discovered near Wever several days later prompted the discussion.
“A little more than a month ago, we had that body out there and then it came into a discussion between (Fort Madison Fire Chief) Chad Hannum and the County Sheriff's Office about sharing equipment,” Liegois said Monday.
“I wanted to make sure that if we had this extra equipment we could access, we had something in writing. So we had these discussions of putting together a memorandum of understanding.”
The agreement allows the city to access the county’s rescue equipment if and when the need arises. The equipment will still be stored by the county, but Fort Madison can request to use the equipment when necessary. Liegois said the city has staff trained to use the equipment the county owns and the city does not.
 “Sometimes when the Sheriff’s Department gets called out, they can't always put people on their boat, and that's kind of where that discussion came from,” Liegois said. “We actually have someone that is SCUBA certified.”
During the June rescue incident, the sheriff’s department communicated with city fire and rescue, but didn’t deploy the county’s rescue boat.
Liegois said she would actually like to see a more comprehensive river rescue plan in place with all the agencies along the Mississippi River in Lee County.
“I still think they should entertain more of that service, and that’s just my own opinion, and that probably makes sense.”
Vandenberg said the sheriff’s department still has three certified divers on staff including Clint Wray, Matt VanBerkum, and Bryson Hennigar along with the rescue boat and equipment on the boat. But he said he’s the only one currently qualified to operate the boat at this point, so he wanted to make sure a partnership was in place to utilize all the resources.
“The goal is, we have these resources and we want to make sure, when there’s an emergency, everyone has access to all the equipment at their disposal,” Vandenberg said.
The boat is currently being held outside the sheriff’s office in Montrose.
He said Fort Madison Fire & Rescue has more staff trained to do water rescue and having access to the sheriff’s boat is a good partnership to have.
In other action, the board is scheduled to:
• discuss the renewal of the annual lease to the Lee County Labor Chapter for the upstairs of the Newberry Center in downtown Fort Madison. The current lease is for $750 per month plus property taxes of $1,016 annually.
• authorize a 3-month lease for property in the 600 block of Avenue G to temporarily house Lee County EMS staff in Fort Madison due to poor living conditions at the current quarters.