Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Upgrades help Rosston residents

Building a new fire station and buying a new firetruck has paid off for the City of Rosston.

According to Rosston Mayor Lewis Jackson, the city's fire rating dropped from a 9 to a 7 because of these two improvements.

This, he said during the regular monthly meeting of the Rosston City Council, Monday, July 2, will translate into savings for Rosston residents on their homeowners insurance policies.

A letter from the Insurance Services Offices, the rating agency for fire departments, stated the ISO had completed its evaluation of the fire insurance classification and improved Rosston's protection rating to a Class 7.

The rating, according to the letter, applies to properties in the district within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant, five road miles or less of the responding fire department, with a needed flow of 3,500 gallons per minute.

Rosston's volunteer fire department meets all of these regulations.

"I'm tickled to death about our ISO rating," Jackson said. "I had hoped for an 8, but it went to a 7. This is great. The fire station and fire truck are the reasons for this."

Residents of the community need to make sure their insurance companies are notified of the drop in ISO ratings, so their fire premiums can be duly reduced.

The good news of the drop in ISO rating was followed by the council being informed the city had to purchase a new computer for the water department, because lightning hit the old one.

The lightning, Jackson said, did about $300 worth of damage to the other system. The old computer is being repaired.

Water Superintendent J.D. Luck said he's working to find out what a new generator would cost without a transfer switch.

Councilman Dorothy Ward said the city needs two generators, so one could be a backup for safety reasons.

Jackson said the city could buy a new generator with money from the water department's budget, but the city would need to sell the generator it now has.

Because of the cost of a new generator, Jackson said, the city may have to let bids on it.

A new generator, he said, would have to be large enough to run a three-phase motor, but this will be all to be run on it.

"I'll call the (Nevada) County Judge and see where he bought the one we used before."

When the interior of the new fire station is finished, he said, the council will start meeting there.

New furniture has been ordered and should be in soon.

In addition, a new sign will be made up for the fire station.