Fire station proposal moves toward November vote

A week ago, 2100 N. Roosevelt Avenue was not a valid address but, with the blessing of Burlington residents, it might be home to Burlington’s next fire station.

During a special meeting Monday night the Burlington City Council approved ballot language that would let voters decide if they want to spend $7 million on a new fire station that would serve the western part of Burlington.

The decision will go to voters on their Nov. 7 ballot, which will also house city and school board elections.

“(It would) all be general obligation bonding for the project, but could have other funding sources,” said city manager Chad Bird. “We do believe, and staff recommend, that you ask for authority for the whole project, then find how to finance.“

While the city will seek other funding sources, it is important that officials be upfront about the total project cost when asking citizens to approve the project, Bird said.

An unofficial third station has been in use for the past five years, first at the West Burlington Fire Station, and most recently at the Mount Pleasant Street bakery. It is a small space with not enough room to meet firefighters’ needs.

Because that space can hold an ambulance but not a fire truck, firefighters at that station who respond to a fire are able to only take what little gear is kept in their ambulance.

The city started the process, first by working for several months with an ad-hoc committee of interested parties, then hiring an engineering firm to come up with a design, which ultimately led to nailing down the $7 million price tag for the new station.

A new Station 3 would, like the other two, be full-service.

The Roosevelt Avenue location was chosen because that lot is as central to the city as officials could find.

It is also not far from what had previously been talked about as an ideal location, the corner of Curran and Agency streets, which will soon be home to the new Des Moines County Public Health building.

Fire Chief Matt Trexel said this is a unique opportunity to build a fire station from the ground up.

When the city’s other stations were built, little thought was given to issues like mental health and cancer prevention.

The planned station would include decontamination bays to allow fire fighters to wash up before entering the clean space.

There would also be green space for relaxation and privacy for female firefighters.

The new fire station would ideally also have a place where firefighters can practice their skills on a live burn site.

However, the live burn tower, estimated to cost $1 million, would not be included in the initial project.

In addition, the new building would not just be for the fire department.

Trexel envisions that it would be a place Burlington’s police officers could go to fill out reports on the west side of town and take a break instead of having to go all the way downtown.

“I am all with giving the citizens a vote,” said Councilman Bill Maupin

If the ballot measure passes that does not mean construction would start right away.

Rather, it would signal Bird to start making room in the city’s debt schedule for the fire station, which could put construction about two years down the road.

Preliminary estimates on how much it would cost residents for debt service were not available as of Monday night.

Playground bid comes in over budgetThe Burlington City Council heard on Monday night during their work session that the bids for the Dankwardt Park Playground Project came in over the engineer’s estimate.

According to Parks Director Eric Tysland, the city only received one bid, Mediapolis-based Myers Construction, which was not included in the council’s packet but came in at $729,000.

Meanwhile, the budgeted cost for installing the playground was set at $671,000.

Tysland did not say whether there was an overall reason why the bid came in above the estimate, but did say that the city is going through the bid, line item by line item.

The Dankwardt Park Playground project is largely paid for by monies that the city has raised through grants and individual donors.

The city’s contributions come in the form of monies the city receives for non routine items such as Local Option Sales Tax and the city’s American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Tysland said that the city currently has $1.525 million on hand to complete the project, including about $730,000 in playground equipment and engineering costs.

The council will officially award bid for the construction project at their regular meeting next week.

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