Alton, Iowa — According to the Alton Fire Chief, the Alton Fire Station is in need of expansion. But if all goes according to plan Alton citizens’ taxes won’t be going up.
Fire Chief Quintin Van Es tells us the plan.
He says that since it will have to go to a public bid, a bond vote will be needed.
While there will be a bond vote, Van Es says it’s not like other bond votes where you vote whether you’re OK with your taxes going up. He says it will be paid through Local Option Sales Tax.
He tells us they don’t have an exact cost yet, but he says they hope to have it come in under that two million mark.
Van Es tells us why the addition is needed.
He says they currently have six bays but one can’t be used because of its size. They’re going to add on four bays, with one of them as a dedicated wash rack. Another truck housed in a nearby storage unit will be able to be housed in the station, and some equipment in a nearby garage will be able to be stored at the station as well. Van Es tells us that an office, kitchen, bathrooms, a training and meeting room, a bunker gear room, a scrub room, and some extra storage will be part of the project as well.
Again the open house will be on Monday, February 15 from 4 to 7 p.m., and the bond vote will be Tuesday, March 2nd. Visit the Alton Fire & EMS Facebook page for more information.
Photo: Alton Fire Station Addition Artist’s Concept Drawing, courtesy Alton Fire Department
