Stoughton Fire Department chief Josh Ripp.

Stoughton Fire Department chief Josh Ripp.

With the possibility of more rescue calls on the sometimes fast-moving Yahara River, the Stoughton Fire Department is looking to team up for training and cost-sharing with other Dane County departments.

At its Tuesday, Sept. 13 meeting, the Stoughton City Council voted unanimously to authorize Stoughton Fire Department Chief Josh Ripp to pursue an Assistance for Firefighters (AFG) Regional Swiftwater Rescue Technician Grant. The grant would provide training, equipment and travel costs for county firefighters, with departments covering 10 percent of the cost, with the AFG consortium covering the remaining 90, trimming Stoughton’s cost $200 per member.

“It was a pretty good deal,” said Dist. 1 Ald. Brett Schumacher. “(And) it’s training for things that unfortunately are probably going to become much more commonplace.”

Ripp told Council members the proposal was initiated by Dane County Emergency Management and a firefighter from the Black Earth Fire Department based on lessons learned from the severe flooding on the west side of the county in 2018.

“(That) really proved what we had for resources in Dane County and what we really didn’t have, even across the state, as we were working and trying to find people who were trained in swiftwater (rescue),” he said. “We had Beloit, Lafayette County and Grant County… and that was it. That’s who we typically rely on for water rescue, and they were absolutely inundated and unavailable for anything.”

In a Sept. 7 letter to the city officials, Ripp wrote that the department occasionally has to perform rescues on the river, and during the most recent one at the Dunkirk dam a few years ago, it was “very apparent … we didn't have the proper equipment and more importantly, training/knowledge to handle the rescue safely.” He said the department has plenty of training in rescues in slow or static water, particularly when using its boat, but that can’t be used when the river’s current is running fast, calling that type of rescue “very high risk, low occurrence.”

“These require more extensive use of ropes/lines to move rescuers and rescuers to safety,” he wrote. “If there is a 911 call placed and we are dispatched, we need to have some level of knowledge to start the rescue.”

Ripp wrote that he’s seeking the grant funding now because the Yahara River running through the city often flows at a speed of 1 knot or greater (meeting the definition of “swiftwater”), and the city is planning to build a swiftwater park downtown.

“It will take some time (years) to build up the expertise and experience among department members, so waiting until (the park) is approved isn’t something I’m willing to do,” he said.

Ripp said the creation of the swiftwater group is part of a county-wide approach to teaming up when emergencies occur, similar to existing rope rescue and other technical rescue teams, spreading out the responsibility over many departments.

“While we may get requests to send people to go help out somewhere, it would be two or three, we’re not sending the entire department to help on a swiftwater team,” he explained. “Everyone is sending a few we can spare that have been trained in that particular specialty.”

As expected, the Council unanimously approved a change to the General Development Plan for Lot 6 within the 51 West development to include more duplexes and add a few additional lots.

The resolution covers part of developer Bob Dvorak’s planned 70-acre commercial-residential subdivision along Hwy. 51, just south of the Rutland-Dunn Townline Road. In July, the Council approved 13.6 acres of commercial development, 292 apartment units in six buildings, 30 condominium units, nine single-family homes, five duplexes and a 5-acre park.

The property owner requested Lot 6 be rezoned from multifamily residential to two-family residential zoning to allow 10 duplex buildings for a total of 20 residential units. The original approved General Development Plan for the lot allowed four 4-unit buildings and a total of 16 units.

City director of planning and development Rodney Scheel said that at the request of the Stoughton Fire Department, the developer has also agreed to add a secondary access route to the parcel. Lot 6 will continue to act as a “buffer” between the high density 96-unit multi-family development proposed for Lot 5 and the single-family home Lots 7 through 15.

The first phase of the 51 West project is to develop the east side of Hwy. 51 with utility infrastructure extensions, road construction, mass grading and pond development. City officials anticipate Lot 6 development will begin construction during the spring of 2023.

To avoid meeting on the election day of Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Council voted to meet on Tuesday, Nov. 15 instead of holding meetings previously planned for Nov. 8 and 22.

Contact reporter Scott De Laruelle @sdelaruelle@orourkemediagroup.com

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