The city of Owen and the Owen-Withee-Curtiss Fire & EMS District held a joint meeting on Wednesday, September 17. Both boards called their meetings to order.
Fire District chair Dan Goessl said the district would prefer land on the south side of Highway 29. The city can save on the road. Alderperson Ray Kilty talked about the water pressure issues and the possible above ground reservoir that would help with any sprinklers located in the fire station also. He said they are getting pricing on the tank.
Goessl talked about a land swap and the dollars per acre. Fire district board member Mark Klein said the north side appraised at $10,000 an acre. Alderperson Pam Jaffke said the current fire station was appraised at $405,000. Alderperson and fire district board member Jason Thornton pointed out that the railroad owns most of the parking lot behind the current station.
Previously land on the south side had been sold at $1,500 per acre. Kilty said the city won’t sell for that price as they won’t collect any taxes from the fire district. It was also pointed out that the land on the south side should be valued a little bit higher. Thornton said they could do a land swap for the current station, that the $400,000 would look better for grant funding. Alderperson Bob Wilczek said the city can borrow against the value of the building to help pay for any needed infrastructure. If the city has no water for fire suppression, the land out there isn’t worth anything. Jaffke asked about the water issues. Wilczek said the problem was found with the sale to a business. When the business park was planned 15 years ago, they didn’t need that much water. The tank they are currently talking about would be for fire suppression only. It would also benefit any business that goes in on the north side, Clark County Rehabilitation & Living Center, Bogseth’s bus garage, the clinics, and anyone living along Cardinal Ave.
Goessl also mentioned the wetlands on the north side that wouldn’t be an issue with the south side. Wilczek said no wells can be put in. There are two lots of approximately 10 acres and a three acre lot left. Some of those lots were returned to the city when a business didn’t build. Jaffke asked if 10 acres would be sufficient for what the fire district needs. The answer was yes.
Goessl said everything hinges on getting grant funds. Fire Chief Travis Serocki said they can apply in March. It will take 2-3 months to get approved, then they need to do building plans. The state is currently taking 6-8 weeks to approve those. Bids would have to be announced for two weeks, so they are looking at over a year before anything could be built.
Alderperson John Mauel asked about whether the city preferred to swap the land for the building or to sell the land. Mayor Scott Jalling, Wilczek and Kilty said they preferred to swap. Serocki said that would depend on what the grant would allow. Thorton asked if they agree, would the fire department be okay with the easement for the water reservoir. Wilczek said ideally it would be on fire district land so they can pull water from it easier. Goessl asked if there were any liability issues. Kilty felt it would solve a lot of issues for both sides. Goessl suggested the city talk to their attorney to make sure everything would be okay. Fire district board member Linus Snyder said a swap would be good if it works with the grant. Thornton asked whether they would consider borrowing to build if they didn’t get a grant. Goessl said no.
The city made a motion and second to swap the land for the current station pending grant approval/loan approval. Wilczek abstained.
Community member Rick Nelson commented that ISO ratings go by road mileage. Moving the station will impact Owen and Withee detrimentally. Curtiss, Green Grove and Hoard will be affected by moving the station out of Curtiss. Serocki said building on the north side would have covered to Nazareth in Withee. He also said that some insurance companies use ISO ratings, some don’t, so it is hard to determine what impact that might have.
Fire district board member Art Petke questioned what they would be swapping for. He said they couldn’t do it if it wasn’t even up. Snyder said if the federal grant works with the swap, then they will end up paying $7,500 per acre. Thornton pointed out the city would be getting no tax dollars from the fire district. Petke said then they should leave things the way they are and negotiate with Curtiss. Thornton said they have already missed out on grant opportunities. The fire district approved a motion to do the land swap contingent on the grant paying 80 percent. Art Petke and Mark Klein voted no and Jane Stoiber abstained.
For next steps, the city said there was no reason to get their lawyer involved until this was a sure deal. Snyder talked about buying Curtiss Fire Station vs. getting a new building for the same money. Thornton said the district is not financially stable enough to replace equipment, pay for the Curtiss Station and do needed repairs to the Owen Station. He understands that ISO is a thing, but if the district can’t financially operate, they are landlocked, can’t move all the equipment to Curtiss and are already running on bare bones, they need to do something.
Wilczek said they should have a conversation with Curtiss and leave their options open. Mauel feels things are heading in the right direction. Jaffke said the district needs to do what it can to make the fire department viable.