Sheldon, Iowa — Sheldon residents are finding a little something extra in their City utility bills this month. In addition to a bill for your water and garbage hauling, you’ll find a letter from the heads of the City’s three Emergency Services Departments.
The letter, which is signed by Police Chief Scott Burtch, Fire Chief Denny Kruger and SCAT Director Kevin Miller urges residents to make sure that they have house numbers prominently displayed, and visible from the street.
Sheldon City Manager Sam Kooiker tells us more.
(As above) “We’re encouraging people, as they side their homes, or paint their homes, or move into a new home, or move out of their old home, or build a shed or buy a shed, that everything in town needs to have a house number on it, and it’s for their safety.”
Kooiker says house numbers are required, by city ordinance, and there’s a very important reason why.
(As above) “It is a city ordinance. We don’t write tickets on it, but we want to help other emergency services. Because each second wasted looking for a house is a second that could be spent saving a life.”
He says that while the City has never written, nor do they intend to start writing, tickets for not having a house number, they ARE concerned about residents’ safety.
(As above) “Help out our emergency services by putting up building numbers. And the same goes for storage units and empty sheds. Everything should have a building number so that the fire department or, especially ambulance, can find it. Usually when there’s a fire we can find it, but with an ambulance call sometimes these buildings are harder to find.”
Kooiker says the City sends out a similar letter once a year, in order to remind residents to make their address more visible from the street. The life you save by doing so may be your own, or that of someone you love.
