Deal reached to build new fire station | Government – News-Press Now

A majority of the St. Joseph City Council voiced their support Monday for a behind-schedule project that will see a new fire station built on Missouri Western State University property.

The new station will include a shell for an emergency operations shelter to replace a cramped space serving as an EOC inside another firehouse.

We need about another $200,000 to get to the $3 million that weve negotiated the price (of the new station) down to, St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray said.

The project originally was budgeted for $2.9 million, though the city has paid a penalty to the associated contractors because the project is a year behind schedule, and some funds already have been spent on preliminary issues. The $200,000 shortfall will be paid by money found in a Tax Increment Funding account.

To pay for the EOC, the city will draw some $285,000 from a Capital Improvement Plan account. In total, the new firehouse and EOC will cost about $3.3 million. The EOC will only be roughed in, according to McMurray, meaning it will be functional but still needing additional work.

The new station will be built on Mitchell Avenue near Interstate 29, on Missouri Western property. Originally, the firehouse was to include a police station for the university, though officials backtracked on that plan after an acrimonious process in which planners couldnt accommodate the police departments needs, according to St. Joseph Fire Chief Mike Dalsing.

St. Joseph will pay the university $275,000 for a 99-year lease of the land where the station will sit.

McMurray and council members Madison Davis, Kent ODell, Russell Moore, PJ Kovac and Brenda Blessing voiced their support for the project. Gary Roach and Brian Myers were absent, though their votes wouldnt be enough to stop construction.

Construction on damaged bridges in St. Joseph will begin next year, city officials told council members at the work session Monday. Voters approved $20 million in bonds to finance the project during a

The Corby Pond will be drained later this year following an agreement between the city and state. City officials told council members Monday that the pond will be drained and then rebuilt to accommodate more water. It will also receive a new retaining wall. The city and state are under an agreement that the project will finish by the end of 2021.

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Deal reached to build new fire station | Government - News-Press Now