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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Gazette Corner: Scoop on the new Evansville Fire station

Click on the post for the latest.
Posted by The Evansville Observer at 12:15 PM

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:37 AM

    mayfgdqI am some what floored that this did not go to a referendum. If in fact this is something that we really had to do then it would have been a slam dunk on the ballet with nothing to fear.
    I am left with nothing but questions:
    1-How can the city buy the current firehouse when we already own it.
    2-If the building and equip is only owned by a 51% majority of the city of Evansville then what dollar amount will the taxpayers be liable for?
    3-If our service area is so large that we cover other towns then maybe they should pay a larger part of the bill.
    Or should we down size the service area to cover only our own city.
    I am not sure this is going to be a real good deal for the taxpayers of Evansville.
    Perhaps Sandy Decker can get grants for this expense?

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  2. Anonymous11:12 AM

    The city does not own the fire station. It is owned by the Evansville fire district. The fire district includes Evansville, nearly all of Union Township and parts of Porter, Brooklyn and Magnolia townships.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:38 PM

    that is splitting hairs, the fire dept is financed by the tax payers period.
    The tax payers already own the building in which the fire dept resides as well as the rest of city hall.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill Connors5:35 PM

    Here is some background readers might find interesting.

    I was asked to acquire for the city the old ceramics shop on S. 1st St. to use as a new home for the youth program, so the Dean builing across the street from City Hall could be used as a new police station, replacing the one on E. Main St. I suggested that the old fire station might become available and might make a suitable new police station. I was told to go forward with the acquisition of the old ceramic shop.

    Then the old grocery store on S. Madison St. became available, and I was asked to acquire it for the city to use as a new Public Works/EMS headquarters. I again suggested that the old fire station might become available and might be used for both a police station and EMS headquarters. I was told to go forward with acquiring the old grocery store.

    Now the old fire station is available, the city will acquire it for use as a new police station, and the EMS will move into the Dean building.

    From the perspective of the Police Department, EMS, and Public Works Department, this is the best possible outcome. But acquiring and remodeling all three of these buildings (the old ceramic shop, old grocery store, and old fire station) is not cheap.

    Bill Connors
    Former Evansville City Administrator

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  5. Karen6:52 PM

    Much of this was spoken about in closed session so I am reluctant to say too much, but I can tell you that the discussions were open (though closed) and I never had the impression that the city was going against your recommendations. A lot of uses were bantered around for these various buildings including having City Hall expand into the fire station. Other buildings that may become available were identified and discussed as well. Some ideas stuck, some didn't. Also at the time of these horse trades, there was little certainty of the timing of the fire station becoming available.

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  6. Bill Connors8:56 AM

    Karen is correct that the future availability of the old fire station for acqusition and re-use by the city was only a possibility, not anywhere close to a certainty, when the city decided to acquire the old ceramic shop and the old grocery store.

    I apologize if my previous message gave the impression that I recommended against acquiring the old ceramic shop or the old grocery store. I did not intend to convey that impression. It certainly was not my intention to divulge discussions that occurred during closed Council sessions.

    All I intended to communicate was that the Common Council was aware that the old fire station might become available and could be re-used as the new police station or new police station and EMS headquarters when the Council decided to acquire the old ceramic shop and the old grocery store, and (and I am confident this was discussed in open session at public meetings) the purpose of the acquisition of the old cermaic shop was to free up the Dean building for re-use as the new police station. In fact, money was budgeted for renovating the Dean building to become the new police station. Money also was budgeted to renovate part of the old grocery store to be the new EMS headquarters.

    I had no involvement in the recent discussions about acquiring the old fire station to be the new police station, thus freeing up the Dean building for re-use as the new EMS headquarters.

    Bill Connors
    Former Evansville City Administrator

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  7. Karen11:00 AM

    Bill and I are in agreement over the events and issues surrounding this topic that the city dealt with while he and I were actively involved.

    I remember that at the time there were accusations of "sweetheart deals" and I purposefully asked questions at the time that I hoped would sniff-out any such thing. I voted confident it was the best use of what was available and more importantly what the department heads wanted.

    My last post was not intended to counter Bill as much as to head-off any resurgence of the sweetheart deal conspiracy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:34 PM

    The Janesville Gazette reported that the Fire district is going to sell the fire station and the adjacent lot to the city for $275,000. The fire district bought the house at 22 W. Church about 4 years ago for around $87,000 (I could be wrong on the number). I believe that this is the adjacent lot that the Gazette is talking about.
    Another Evansville blog had reported in March the current fire station was appraised at $251,000.

    This would lead me to believe that the fire district bought a house, burned it down therefore taking it off of the tax rolls, and sold the lot it stood on 4 years later for a loss of $63,000.

    I understand that we need schools, fire, ambulance, police etc. but I can’t stand seeing waste when it comes to my tax money.

    Does anyone know how to find out how much the city paid for the lot at 22 W. Church?

    ReplyDelete

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