The Rugby Job Development Authority will be going after a grant to study the potential for a Biofuel Development Opportunity Zone in Rugby, JDA Executive Director Brian Hoffart told the Rugby City Council Jan. 21.

The JDA has been working with a Ecostrat, consulting company, whose scope of work includes assisting communities in establishing zone-certification, a designation that can help attract national biofuels and biomanufacturing firms. The company, which worked with Langdon last year, is helping the Rugby JDA with a grant application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for funds to conduct a feasibility study, Hoffart said. A study will look at infrastructure, transportation and availability of crop inputs as part of determining a community’s Biofuel Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone rating.

Hoffart suggested Rugby could get a rating high enough to be considered an optimal area for biobased development. The community could support a small- to medium-sized biomass company with the advantages Rugby offers, he said.

“It could be an opportunity for Rugby in the near future,” he said. “We have industrial land.”

However, he added it will take time to get through the study and rating process to be able to take advantage of any benefits. Once a rating is established, Ecstrat would assist in promoting the BDO Zone to companies.

The report from the JDA also noted that a shortage of housing is impacting the ability to attract a workforce. Hoffart said options for housing are being surveyed, including vacant lots for building, blighted properties that could be improved, mobile home courts and new developments such as the Chalmers Addition. Hoffart said a lot recently sold for a home in the Chalmers development and the JDA is talking with a builder about potentially acquiring and building on four other lots.

The JDA also is looking at developing a comprehensive plan for stabilizing housing, which could help to stabilize employment, Hoffart said.

Other JDA activities include website updates and discussion on the creation of a fund that could be tapped for local matches often required to be eligible for grants. Hoffart said the JDA is in a position to be able to create the fund without jeopardizing debt payments, reserves or operating funds. He said the fund could be set up as an endowment that would take community donations.

The council also heard from Kyler Lemar of Rugby, who questioned why the local health system doesn’t have a pediatrician on staff. He cited the millions of dollars that have gone into school projects and a new hospital while residents must travel out of town to get pediatric care for their children. Grieving the loss of his 2 year old daughter, Lemar said he wonders if having a local pediatrician might have made a difference.

Council members spoke about the difficulty in attracting medical personnel to small towns, explaining that even optometrists and dentists have been hard to recruit.

In other business, the council accepted the bid of Ember Appartus, Harvey, for a $963,950 pumper truck for the fire department. Ember was the only bidder.

The truck will be manufactured by Spencer Manufacturing in Michigan state. The base price for the truck is $877,000, with an additional $86,950 in options requested in the bid, although those options will be reviewed in a pre-construction meeting to determine which will remain.

A payment of $445,000 is due in 30 days, with the balance payable upon delivery. The city has just over $410,000 available, and the fire department reported it has $200,000 set aside. The city could consider a loan to obtain additional dollars necessary to complete the purchase at delivery. Discussions also have started with the rural fire department board about its purchasing a share in an older city fire truck, which would generate proceeds toward the new purchase.