The fireboat Karl Prehn likely will be sold next year, but whether it will be replaced probably wont be decided until several governmental entities in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley have their say.
The Lewiston City Council decided at noon Monday to contact brokers about selling the boat, which has been in the valley since 1984.
Contacts also will be made with the valley port districts, both counties and the Asotin County Fire District No. 1, all of which contributed to the $44,000 purchase price 10 years ago, to see whether they want a fire boat.
And, most controversial among the council members, Lewiston Fire Chief Thomas J. Tomberg will talk with jetboat builders to prepare specifications for the ideal multipurpose boat for firefighting, search and rescue, and hazardous waste containment on the Snake and Clearwater rivers.
The vote by a show of hands was 3 to 2 although they called it a consensus because voting is illegal under Idaho law at the noon work sessions to develop the specifications and decide later whether the fireboat will be replaced.
Tomberg said a marine surveyor this summer placed the value of the Karl Prehn at $100,000 to $125,000 at Seattle, less if sold at Lewiston.
He said that should be enough to build and outfit about a 32-foot replacement that would be more maneuverable and have less than the 4.5-foot draft that creates problems with the Prehn.
The boat couldnt be sold until after March 18, 1995, however, because of an intergovernmental agreement for fire protection services made when the other entities contributed to the purchase price.
After the agreement expires, Tomberg said other entities would be billed $400 an hour if the Prehns services were called upon.
He said maintenance on the Prehn is budgeted at $549 a month, which over a 10-year period comes to $65,000.
Council members came and went during the almost two-hour discussion. Expressing the strongest reservations or downright opposition to replacing the fireboat, however, were Manly MacDonald, Shirley McGeoghegan and J.R. Van Tassel. Van Tassel was gone by the time Mayor Gayle T. McGarry took a count, and MacDonald and McGeoghegan voted against developing specifications.
City Attorney Don Roberts was instructed to prepare a resolution declaring the Prehn surplus so the sale process could be started.
