CITY COUNCIL MEETING 04/26/10 (Fire Station Expansion, Spending Plan, Citizen Bravery)

City Moves Ahead on Plan for Fire Expansion 
Constitution-Tribune, Amanda McKay
Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The city of Chillicothe will soon seek requests for proposals for building an addition onto the existing fire station and move ahead with plans to build a firefighting training facility. Fire Chief Darrell Wright gave a presentation to city officials and members of the public during the regular Chillicothe City Council meeting Monday night at City Hall. Both projects, anticipated to cost around $2.4 million, are to be paid for through revenues of the quarter-cent sales tax which voters passed in April 2003 for the fire department as well as anticipated grant money. The station expansion is projected to cost around $1.4 million and the training facility around $1 million. These are rough estimates as bids will need to be sought and interest rates determined before a more firm cost is identified, Wright said. The projects would be paid for over 30 years.

Station Expansion
In his presentation, the chief said the current station houses three fire engines, a ladder apparatus, a tanker, a rescue vehicle, four ambulances, a brush truck and three multi-purpose vehicles as well as a HAZMAT and command trailer. He said that the current building built in 1982 was designed for a staff of 15 plus a chief. Currently, the department has 21 firefighters, a secretary and a chief. Since the time the building was constructed, the department has grown and the services and demand have increased. Wright said that ambulances and trucks have increased in size which makes sharing bays difficult and, sometimes, prohibitive. Currently, additional equipment including the hazmat trailer, command trailer, rural tanker and a larger rural pumper are housed outside. He also stated that the facility is inadequate for the existing staff. The bunk room is crowded with very little room between bunks and there is no privacy for females. He noted that there is one female employee and that the number of female employees will likely increase in the future. He said there is not enough living space and that the department currently utilizes part of a storage room for staff quarters. Wright is proposing that a two-story addition measuring 27 feet by 45 feet be built to provide space for living quarters upstairs and a meeting room on the main level. Additionally, the proposal will seek an extra bay area measuring around 48 feet by 60 feet to house additional equipment. The two-story addition would include a private sleeping area, male-female bath rooms, a day room area, and a meeting room with a separate entrance and some extra parking. The addition would be equipped with an elevator to comply with ADA requirements as well as a sprinkler system. In addition to making payments on the anticipated loan and paying for other projected budget items, the department anticipates setting aside $110,000 annually from the sales tax. Last year, the tax generated $371,608 in revenues. The tax is anticipated to bring in $373,067 during this budget year.

Firefighting Training Facility
The training complex is proposed to be built on an 8.8-acre tract of city-owned land along Green Street and south of the Donaldson Company in southwest Chillicothe. The complex would provide training facilities for the fire department as well as for law enforcement. Wright said that three other locations were considered but thought that the Green Street site was the best option. The other sites were: south of the Pepsi Building in the industrial park area; south of the existing fire station; and south of the old prison. The fire training facility would provide space for conducting live fire training, forcible entry and ventilation, an area to work with ropes, and more. A training tower would provide a facility for training police and fire department personnel.

A resident who lives nearby the proposed training site expressed concerns about the noise which would come from a shooting range which is planned to be built there. He also questioned why the city did not send out notification about the department's plans to build the training facility. He was told that since the zoning for area is currently zoned industrial the city did not need to send letters to adjacent property owners. The citizen also stated that a child care facility and a church are nearby. Police Chief Rick Knouse briefly explained plans for a shooting range at the site. He said berms would be built 24 to 30 feet high to help baffle noise and that the officers would be shooting to the west. He said a shooting range is needed by the department, which currently has its officers practice where there currently is no water, electricity or shelter.

In other business Monday night, the council approved the 2010-11 spending plan for capital improvement sales tax dollars. After having conducted a public hearing two weeks ago, the council on Monday formally passed an ordinance adopting the plan. The city anticipates collecting $746,618 through this existing tax. Around a third of this amount is earmarked to be transferred to the city's general fund to pay for infrastructure improvements to the old prison property on the south side of Third Street. This is the first of four installments to be paid for the redevelopment of this property. Other items earmarked for the revenues include repayment to the city's MoDAG fund, mowers for the airport and parks department, police cars, a payment for the bowling alley, a payment on the interest on funds used to purchase land for the new prison, and a transfer for the airport state block grant.

Also Monday night, council members passed several ordinances regarding the proposed 2010 demolition grant funds to help remove vacant and dilapidated houses and commercial structures within the city.

Also at the meeting, two citizens were recognized for their bravery involving a felony assault which stemmed from an attempted theft at Hy-Vee Food store. Chillicothe Police Chief Rick Knouse presented certificates of appreciation to citizen Eric Turner and 4th Ward City Councilman Paul Howard, who is an employee at Hy-Vee. Howard was wounded when he tried to stop the fleeing suspect, who had attempted to steal $1,700 worth of alcohol. The suspect had cut Howard with a knife and the wound required stitches. Knouse said that Turner had followed and "corralled" the suspect so that the police could make an easy arrest.

The council also approved rental rates for golf cart storage at Green Hills Golf Course. The rates, as proposed by the golf advisory board, are $75 annually for gas carts and $100 annually for electric carts. This is the first time that private carts will be allowed at the city-owned course.

Chillicothe Fire Chief Darrell Wright presented Terry Hanavan with a plaque for his 15 years of service as a paid-by-call firefighter. Hanavan is retiring from this post.

The council on Monday also approved an ordinance regarding a contract with Grand River Entertainment and the Mudcats baseball season. The contract is similar to last year's regarding GRE's use of Shaffer Park. Wilma Souders, a resident who lives near Shaffer Park, said she would like to see the city prohibit the sale of alcohol at the park during Mudcats games and would like to see the park open daily for public use (paid admission is required during Mudcats games and the facility was closed during the winter in an effort to reduce vandalism). Additionally, she expressed displeasure of players/umpires changing their clothes in the parking lot prior to games. After considerable discussion, the council voted 4-1 to approve the contract with 3rd Ward Councilman Tom Douglas voting against the measure.

The council passed an ordinance amending the start time of regular city council meetings from the current time of 7 p.m. to become 6:30 p.m. For the last several years, the council had been conducting workshops at 6:30 p.m. prior to each regular council meeting at 7 p.m. However, workshop discussions rarely take up the full 30 minutes prior to the regular meeting and the council felt that it was unnecessary to have separate workshop meetings at this time.

Also Monday, the council approved a yearly contract for an emergency management co-assistant (Mike Booth). This position was funded last year at the rate of $2,500 each from the city, county, hospital and health center. For the new budget year, however, the position will be funded at the same rate by all entities except for the health center. The rate remains the same for the participating entities, though, because grant money will be used.