The Minocqua Town Board on a 3-1 vote Tuesday, Sept. 6th approved a new fire station costing no more than $3.4 million to replace the aging station located downtown on the Island of Minocqua. But it’s not a done deal yet. The electorate will vote on the proposal at a special town meeting in mid-October. Their vote will be binding.
Last year, they approved spending $375,000 to buy land south of the Island for the new station.
Town chairman Mark Hartzheim and supervisor Bill Fried supported supervisor John Thompson’s motion to approve the fire station as recommended by the fire station expansion committee. Supervisor Sue Heil voted “no.” Supervisor Bryan Jennings was absent because he was still in a hospital after being struck by lightning during Tuesday's thunderstorms. Heil said she was not happy with the roof design, preferring to see a wooden truss roof rather than the modified “flat” roof that’s proposed. Flat roofs have a history of failing, she said. MSA project engineer Al Szymanski by speakerphone said the roof design is not considered a true flat roof, as it slopes slightly. Such roofs are designed better than past years’ flat roofs, he said. They’re cheaper to build, feature internal drains and have a longer warranty than truss style roofs. Thompson told Heil that she should “not worry” about a sloped roof as building technology has made them much more efficient. “It’s completely different now,” he said.
Of more concern, he added, are the internal drains, which have caused problems in the Community Building. Heil also asked about creating a wood truss roof over the apparatus bay and a sloped roof over the “domestic” side. But Szymanski said that would drive up cost, as different contractors would be needed to complete the “split” roof. Later, Heil also said a number of people are concerned about the unexpected high price tag of the building. Former town chairman Don Gauger, who sits on committee, agreed the estimated cost was significant. “When I first saw the figure, it took my breath away,” he said. But in discussions with the public, he said they had faith in the committee members’ expertise and ability to get a good value. Heil said she was also surprised to learn that the committee had not whittled the cost down, which she thought they were going to do when members met that morning. Fire Chief Andy Petrowski pointed out that last month some 650 square feet were cut from the original design by Baraboo consulting firm MSA Professional Services. About half of the approximate 14,500-square feet building is set aside for various fire trucks and other equipment; the other half is for offices, meeting rooms, historical display area, day room, shower and bathrooms, etc. The estimated cost of the building is $2.8 million, but architectural fees, contingency fees and related costs pushes it to $3.4 million. Petrowski said if construction bids are let in January, there is a possibility that the probable dollar costs suggested by MSA could drop. “If you bid this out the first two to three weeks in January you are going to get a better price than if you bid it out any time in February or later, March and April,” he said. “People are booking their jobs, their subcontractors, their crews . . . for the spring thaw and summer work.” Petrowski again made the case for a masonry building, saying that type of construction would last longer than a steel frame structure. It would be shortsighted, he also said, to build a smaller facility and then come back in a few years to build an addition. “Additions are much more expensive,” he said. A masonry building would also be better looking than a steel frame structure and, while not the primary focus, would help recruit future members of the volunteer department, the fire chief said.
The fire department plans to use money it has collected in donations and fundraisers to cover $80,000 to $100,000 in “soft costs” such as for new radios, furniture and other equipment, Petrowski said. If the historic display room were to be eliminated, he had said at a past meeting, then its approximate $168,000 cost would have been covered by those same funds. Szymanski also did a cost comparison between two metal style buildings; found no major cost differences. But omitting all the masonry on the exterior would save roughly $350,000, he said. Heil and others on both the board and committee did agree they did not want an all-meal structure. The board also agreed with the fire chief’s recommendation against having MSA design different styles of buildings for the special town meeting, as each new design would be costly.
