Mike Paal1
Sabrina Hille
From:Audra Etzel
Sent:Thursday, September 19, 2024 8:48 AM
To:Mike Paal; concernedcitizensconcernedcitizenofotsego@gmail.com
Cc:Sabrina Hille
Subject:Otsego Fire Dept
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Audra Etzel, MMMC, MMC | City Clerk
City of Otsego | 13400 90th Street NE | Otsego, MN 55330 |
763.235.3143 Direct | 763.441.4414 Office |
www.ci.otsego.mn.us
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From: Mike Paal <mikepaal33@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2024 8:46 AM
To: Audra Etzel <AEtzel@ci.otsego.mn.us>; concernedcitizensconcernedcitizenofotsego@gmail.com
Subject: Otsego Fire Dept
To whom it may concern,
This email is intended as my voice for the meeting on Monday 9/23.
My name is Mike Paal. My family and I have lived in Otsego for 9 years now, we started our family here and have no
plans on moving until the good Lord takes us or our kids put us in an old folks home.
Living at the North end of Parrish Ave with the Otsego City Limit sign in my yard my family and I are strongly against the
building of a fire station. There are 2 contracted fire stations within 5 minutes of our house.
From the data I have looked through, response times will only lower to a small portion of Otsego building a fire station
versus utilizing the contracted fire dept we currently use.
With fire stations all across the US closing, going bankrupt and struggling to staff departments, where do we anticipate
to find fire fighters/EMS? The plan to have a 3 person duty crew staffed at all times is simply unrealistic based on
reasons listed above. Is a 3 person fire crew going to be able to handle the work load? These aspects have not been
thoroughly reviewed and planned for in my opinion.
This brings me to the financial burden we as citizens will face adding to the taxes that have already increased year over
year in the last 9 years of my living in Otsego. Honestly I believe the proposed average increase is a lie and will increase
much more once we start actually paying for the building and yearly operating costs. I do not want to spend more
money for something that will not benefit my family (actually makes my response time worse) or most of the city based
on reasons listed above.
2
In conclusion please take this email as a vote of "no" to building a fire dept in Otsego for myself and family.
Thank you,
Mike