L’ANSE — On behalf of the Baraga County Road Commission, engineer Doug Mills made an offer to buy a parcel of township land he had approached the board about near Second Sand Beach.

“We’re going to put it in permanent conservation status,” Mills said.

The parcel is about 70 acres of marshy land. With a conservation easement placed on it, the parcel would allow the county to clear seven acres worth of wetlands elsewhere in the county for other projects.

Assistant Chief Lyle Olsen of the Aura Fire Department(AFD) approached the board with two requests.

The first was a request that the township pay for a couple of dumpsters so that volunteers could clean up junk off a property on Saari Road.

“I spoke to the landowner and he’s ecstatic about getting it cleaned up,” Olsen said.

However, members of the board were concerned about the township paying to help clean up private land, and no motion was made.

Olsen also made a request for $70,000 be reserved to pay for a used tanker engine for the AFD when one becomes available. Outside municipalities with hydrants, all the water used by firefighters needs to be carried in, and the current tanker only has a 2,400 gallon capacity.

“You could put 10,000 gallons on a fire,” Olsen said. He estimates the AFD engine pumps about 1,000 gallons per minute, meaning their current tanker could run out of water in less than three minutes. Much of the equipment could be transferred to the new engine from the current one to save on costs.