New firehouse project could top $9.5 million for Union Grove-Yorkville taxpayers

The project calls for replacing the existing firehouse with a new facility three times its size. It would be funded jointly by Union Grove and Yorkville taxpayers, although a voter referendum might be required in either or both villages.

Consultants are recommending the new fire station, after deciding that the current firehouse at 700 Main St. is deteriorated and antiquated. The consultants also have determined that building new makes more sense than trying to renovate the current facility.

Consolidation ‘went nowhere’

Just a year ago, a different group of researchers suggested merging Union Grove-Yorkville with the neighboring Kansasville and Rochester fire departments, as a way of pooling resources.

Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Chief Tim Allen said there has been no follow-up discussion about the merger idea.

“That went nowhere,” he said.

Allen said he questions whether such a consolidation would save money — considering that community needs would not change — and he questions whether it would lessen the investment required for building the proposed new fire station.

“There’s no doubt we need a new station,” he added.

Current firehouse ‘outgrown’

The consulting firm, Five Bugles Design, presented its recommendations Wednesday night to the Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Commission, which oversees the fire department for both communities.

The consultants are recommending building a new fire station projected to cost $9.6 million. That does not include the cost of acquiring real estate at the preferred site, which is located behind St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, 3320 S. Colony Ave.

Commission members Wednesday questioned whether a better site could be found, but they expressed support for the idea of building a new home for the fire department.

Yorkville Village President Doug Nelson, who chairs the commission, said a new firehouse has been discussed many times in the past without moving forward. Now, problems associated with the current fire station can no longer be overlooked, Nelson said.

“We don’t have a choice,” he told his commission colleagues. “I don’t want to be alarmist, but it’s pretty serious.”

The fire department spends about $500,000 a year and covers a 36-square-mile region across both Union Grove and Yorkville. With a combined population of 8,300 people in the two communities, the department records about 150 fire calls annually, plus 600 to 700 ambulance calls.

Union Grove-Yorkville also has an automatic aid agreement with the Kansasville and Raymond departments, which means all three respond whenever one of them gets an emergency call.

Five Bugles Design, based in Eau Claire, found that the existing firehouse has deteriorated significantly since it was built in 1974, and that it no longer is sufficient. Renovation options were presented, but the consultants found that such work would be extensive and would not resolve all the problems.

No cost estimates have been presented for renovation.

Architect Laura Eysnogle told commission members Wednesday that the fire station is too small for the department’s growing fleet of trucks and other equipment. But there is not enough room to expand, she said.

“You’ve just outgrown this facility,” she said.

The consulting firm recommends replacing the 9,920-sqaure-foot firehouse with a new 30,000-square-foot facility. As proposed, the new firehouse would include a large community training room, an exercise room, a kitchen and dining room, seven dormitory rooms and private offices.

The projected cost of the new fire station is $9,599,760, which includes $7.3 million for the building, $650,000 for engineering and other fees, and $450,000 for furniture, fixtures and equipment, plus $1 million in contingencies.

Based on a timeline developed by the consulting firm, construction could begin by September 2023 and be completed about a year later.

If Union Grove or Yorkville decides to hold a voter referendum to seek approval for funding the project, referendums could be held as soon as November of this year. But local officials would have to decide about a referendum by August.

Union Grove Village President Steve Wicklund told his fellow commission members that representatives from both communities would hold “serious discussions” with their village boards about options for funding the project.

“We’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do,” Wicklund said.

The recommended building site behind St. Robert’s Church is less than a mile north of the existing fire station. It was chosen because it is centrally located based on where most current firefighters live, making it easily accessible for them during emergencies.

Two alternative sites were identified near the intersection of U.S. Highway 45 and 58th Road, as well as another along York Street near 10th Avenue.

Allen told the commission that those sites are left over from a previous firehouse construction study completed many years ago.

Commission members discussed searching for more potential building sites.

Sandy Born, a Union Grove representative, said she was not impressed with any of the sites presented so far.

“I don’t question that we need a new place,” Born said of the fire station itself. “The question is where.”