Minocqua voters approved building a new fire station Thursday to replace an aging station that has served the Minocqua volunteer firefighters for over four decades.
A heavy contingent of Minocqua Fire & Rescue Department members and their supporters carried the day with 63 electors voting approval and none voting against.
“It’s a big number, but it’s going to serve this community for several generations,” said Town Chairman Mark Hartzheim of the station’s cost. He praised the fire station expansion committee for its dedication and work for seeing the project through.
New facilities for the department are now firmly on track to be built on a four-acre parcel along U.S. Hwy. 51 just south of the Minocqua Area Chamber of Commerce. The parcel was purchased for $375,000 following the electorate’s approval last year. MSA Professional Services, the project’s architectural firm, will prepare final design specifications and bid documents. Bids will be let in late January or early February.
The current station is attached to the Community Center in downtown Minocqua and was built in 1973. Fire Chief Andy Petrowski outlined a litany of issues with that building, including being too small for modern firefighting equipment, inadequate sized training room, and difficulty with downtown traffic when fire calls come in during busy weekends and holidays. “The need is dire,” he said, explaining that the downtown facility would require expensive upgrades if the town didn’t build a new station.
The new station at about 14,500 square feet is double the size of the downtown station. The department has another fire station in the Bo-di-Lac area. The town will borrow to pay for the new station over a 10-year term, said the fire chief. At current interest rates, the owner of property with an assessed valuation of $150,000 would pay $36 per year, or $360 over the decade, for the station. Department members have pledged to furnish the station through donated money and fundraisers, said Petrowski, who pegged that cost at about $150,000.
Minocqua resident Pat Hitt said he wasn’t against a new station, but questioned how the cost of the station went from an estimate of $2 million last year, including the lot, to the $3.4 million figure today. Petrowski, in offering a personal apology for underestimating impact of inflation and increased cost of materials and labor, said he was also dismayed about the unexpected high price of the station. “We knew it would be an expensive venture,” he said. He is hopeful that once bids come back, the overall cost would be less than $3.4 million. “We are a victim of times, too” he added. The new police station and library expansion took precedence over a new fire station and occurred when the economy was sour and contractors were willing to lower prices in order to get work. The fire chief also defended his remarks that the new building would play a role in boosting morale and possibly lead to more volunteers joining the department. Hitt had questioned whether that was a reasonable justification for building a $3.4 million station
. “We are proud of being Minocqua firefighters,” said department member Arin Alesauskas, who said the new station will be welcomed by members. He also thanked the chief for the work on the new station, as well as the fire station expansion committee, town board and officials for their support as well as those who voted yes that evening. Answering another of Hitt’s concerns, Petrowski also said the new location was chosen because it was close to the bulk of the town’s assessed valuation – the downtown business district. Supervisor Sue Heil, who at an earlier town board meeting voted against the building because of its roof design, this time voted for it. She noted the lack of attendance, with the exception of Hitt, of anyone opposed to the project.
The only other questions were “how long is Minocqua going to be a volunteer fire department” and the impact of the new station on Minocqua’s fire insurance rating for homeowners and commercial premiums. The fire chief said he did not forsee a full time (paid) force for decades. The impact of a better insurance rating with a new station would not be substantial on an individual basis, but “would be in a positive direction” across the entire township.
Former town chairman Don Gauger, who serves on the fire station expansion committee, said the committee spent “hundreds of hours” over the last two years in examining the needs of the fire department and reviewing the building design. He praised the study committee as “one of the finest, more thorough” of the committees he’s worked with in the 11 years he served in office.
