Taylor Mill will build a new firehouse to replace the current one, which is in poor condition and needs to be repaired or replaced.
Two commissioners and Mayor Dan Bell voted in favor of a motion to issue a design-build proposal for a new fire department building with a maximum budget of $4 million at the Feb. 8 City Commission meeting.
Bell and commissioners Daniel Murray and Caroline Braden voted for the motion. Commissioners Mark Kreimborg and Ed Kuehne voted against it.
Taylor Mill’s firehouse is said to be functionally obsolete. The firehouse was not designed to house firefighters. Over the years, the city made accommodations to make the firehouse livable, but by low standards.
The city employs nine full-time and 16 part-time fire, paramedics, and EMT personnel who work on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to housing the on-duty fire staff, the new firehouse will occasionally provide accommodations for maintenance crews who need them.
“The firehouse project is planned to replace our 50-plus-year-old firehouse that was built at a time when the entire program was manned by volunteers who would respond to the firehouse from their homes, jobs, or wherever they might be when the call was made to respond,” City Administrative Officer Brian Haney said. “The new firehouse will be built with the next 50 years in mind, accommodating our current contingent of employees and addressing growth as the city looks to the future.”
Details on when construction will begin was not mentioned in the meeting.