Opponents of a bond needed to construct a third fire station told the city council Monday night the price tag was too high and the project didn’t need to be rushed.
But a majority of the council members approved a resolution and two ordinances supporting the plan during a nearly three-hour meeting.
Plans for the new fire station have been under way for about seven years since the time the Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Territory was established. Ron Shoemaker questioned the cost and was the only city councilman who voted against the funding plan. The estimated cost of the fire station is $3.2 million, with the general obligation bonds not to exceed $3.9 million.
The fire station is planned for the northwest corner of the intersection of County Farm Road and CR 200S on property purchased from Warsaw Community Church in 2011.
The resolution was the preliminary determination to proceed with the issuance of the bonds for the new fire station. The first ordinance was approving issuance of the general bond for the station, with the other ordinance appropriating the funds from the general bond issue.
The second reading of the ordinances will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 21, with a hearing on the bond also scheduled for that night. A public notice will be published about the public hearing, with a second notice announcing the city council has preliminary determined to issue bonds.
Randy Rampola, with Fagre Baker & Daniels, bond counsel, explained that Monday’s meeting was a public hearing regarding the determination to issue general obligation bonds to provide for the financing of the new fire station.
He said the final maturity of the bonds is set for a date not later than Aug. 1, 2036, with an interest rate not to exceed 6 percent.
A bond sale would presumably be in early to mid December, with closing by the end of the year. By closing the bond sale by the end of this year, they can be placed onto the tax levy for next year immediately. If the council waits until 2017, it would be another year before it could be put on the tax levy, which Rampola said would raise other issues in terms of interest.
City Councilwoman Diane Quance said, “We already have a bond out there and taxpayers are paying on it right now. And we’re just going to continue to have a bond when we add this new bond, so they’re not going to be paying any more taxes to have a new fire station than they’re paying right now because they’re already paying taxes on the bond going out that we had for the fire truck and this is an equal amount. So the people who are sitting here concerned that their taxes are going to go up because we’re building a new fire station, that would not be the case in terms of building a station. The only places where the costs would be going up would be to man the station and just the daily operations.”
It is projected that three more firemen will be hired in 2017; two in 2018; and two in 2019, with two already hired, giving fire station 3 a staff of nine.
Andy Mouser, manager with Umbaugh & Associates, provided the council with an analysis of the general obligation bonds for the fire station. It shows the project costs of $3,638,655, an allowance for underwriter’s discount of $37,800 and costs of issuance of the bonds of $103,545, for a total estimated use of funds of $3,780,000. By the time the bonds are paid off Aug. 1, 2031, total cost to the debt service fund is $4,585,748.
Wayne Township officials were expected to discuss the fire station at its meeting Monday night. It has to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with the city to pay a share of the costs as the Department of Local Government Finance will only let the city issue the bonds for the project and will not allow a participating unit to bond, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said.
Under a proposed plan, Wayne Township would pay 32.9 percent of the costs – an estimated total of $1,508,711. The city’s 67.1 percent of the costs would be $3,077,037.
Fire station 2 Captain Mike Brubaker gave a presentation on the history of the fire territory, which was formed March 24, 2009. He discussed the benefits of the fire territory and why a station in the southern portion of the city was needed, including improved response time. He told the audience that while the city encompasses 13 square miles, the township is 48 square miles, and that the population is nearly 26,000 and growing.
By adding a southern fire station, he estimated it could cut response time – from 8 minutes from station 1 to Goose Lake to 3 to 4 minutes from station 3 to Goose Lake.
Building the fire station, Brubaker said, will improve the township’s and city’s insurance rates, resulting in savings to people’s insurance rates.
Brubaker discussed how talks about fire station 3 began in 2009, and how a report in 2012 by Roger Bassett found that the fire territory was understaffed. He also added that no new fire engine will be purchased for station 3, which is projected to be open by spring 2018.
Residents speaking on behalf of the fire station were Patrick Boyle, of Miller Health Systems; Joe Clevenger, an insurance agent; and Frank Jones, a Tigers Retreat resident. They said from a fire protection standpoint, it was huge.
Speaking against the station, Craig Nayrocker, who questioned the timing of the building construction and the operating expenses. He wondered if the station could be held off for a year or two.
Kyle Babcock asked about expanding the fire territory into Winona Lake, Claypool or Clay Township, and about the “hurry” to build it, though it’s been discussioned since 2009.
Anne Bonewitz said her main concern was that the cost seemed excessive. While she agreed that a pole barn building was too low, the city should stay within its means.
Rental and commercial building owner Chad Zartman said he’s also concerned about the cost, and that the city could find something between a pole barn and the fire station presented.
Jeremy Pope, who lives on CR 200N, said that if the city builds station 3, it will eventually need to build another station at the airport if the airport expands. Airport Manager Nick King later said he didn’t see that happening any time soon, but if it did expand and required a fire station, the FAA has grant money available for such things.
The last remonstrator, Jack Volkers, asked if more cuts to the project could be found. The original design for the fire station had three bays, but Thallemer previously requested one bay be cut to save on costs.
Shoemaker expressed concern about added taxes, while Jerry Frush said fire protection was needed on the south side.
Size wise, Jeff Grose said seven or eight fire stations would equal the size of the new Lincoln Elementary School. He said there is a need for the fire station and said he’s glad the project is moving forward.
Mike Klondaris said it will be cheaper to build the station now. He said it wasn’t going to be the Taj Mahal. Quance said it was time to move forward with the station. Grose added that the community is growing and this was a good step.
Quance made the motions to approve the resolution and ordinances.
