The Owen-Withee-Curtiss Fire District met on Tuesday, November 18 for further discussion on a possible new fire station in Owen. All district members were present.
Bill Neville from Forward Financial was present to answer questions about financing for a new building or the purchase of a used building. He said they could structure the financing to what the district needs. If it were a construction loan, draws could be done as needed so that the district would only pay interest on what is borrowed. Payments could be set up annually, quarterly or monthly. Based on current interest rates, Neville felt the rate offered to the district for a loan would be 5.75% to 6.5%. The loan could be for up to 10 years, but could be amortized over 20-25 years with a balloon payment or re-financing done after 10 years. The loan could be structured based on what the district can afford to pay. There would be no pre-payment penalty. The interest rate would be fixed and a loan could be set up so the district would pay interest only during the construction phase. This could be done for up to a year. Neville said that since taxpayers are securing the loan the bank won’t require the building to be used as collateral. He said all the municipalities would have to sign a borrowing resolution authorizing the district to borrow the money. Forward Financial can also do interim financing for a grant.
Chad from CBS Squared said that they believe the state Innovation Grants will be available again in March. It is an 80/20 grant but you can apply multiple years. He also wanted to clarify that if the district purchased the Curtiss Fire Station that the district would only have to fully staff it for five years, not the 20 originally proposed by Curtiss. That is what grants typically require. Jane Stoiber from Curtiss agreed to that. A 20% contingency is calculated as part of the grant estimate to account for the cost rising between grant writing and bid. He said the grants are usually on a draw system where a portion of the funds can be received to reimburse for funds expended for pay requests. Certain rates will have to be paid for labor. The current estimated price of the building is $3.6 million but that could go up if the Clark County Sheriff’s Office decides to go in on the building for a north dispatch center. District board member Jason Thornton said the county was undecided at this time. Chad said the more letters of support they can get and the more government units on board, the better it looks to those who award the grants. A USDA grant could be anywhere from a 50/50 grant to a 90/10 grant. The cost to write the grant is $15,000. The district still needs to finalize a site and do soil borings. Both the cost of the soil borings and the value of the current Owen fire hall, if traded for the land, can be counted toward the district’s match. When asked about an estimated payment, the number was around $18,000 per month, which would roughly be $27,000 per municipality. The current rent for the Curtiss Station is $26,000. The district is also paying utilities for two buildings, so it shouldn’t cost them much more than it does now in regard to the assessment to each municipality. Once a grant is approved, the district will have 90 days to get bids done. Chad felt it would be possible to get the shell up by next winter if a grant were received. Inside work could then be done over the winter months. He was asked if there were any grants available to purchase the Curtiss building or upgrade the Owen building. The response was not at this time. A question was also asked about how Curtiss set the price they wanted for the building and it is what they still owe. There were also questions about how the Sheriff’s Dept. would pay for their portion of the grant if they decided to do the dispatch center. It might be possible to use those funds as a grant match if they were paid upfront. That would require a contract with the county. According to Thornton, there is no back-up dispatch center if Neillsville goes down. There is also equipment stored outside that should be stored inside. If the county does the dispatch center, they would also want an office for their deputies. Thornton said the Clark County Health Dept. is willing to provide a letter of support. He said a new building would also allow a spot for an emergency operations center if something happened in the area requiring multiple agency response.
Linus Snyder, Hixon representative, said that everyone he has talked to in his township is in favor of building new. Everyone he has talked to in Curtiss has been against building new. He said in the end it comes down to affordability and common sense. He felt the district would be money ahead by building a new fire station. He added it also comes down to functionality. Dan Goessl, Hoard representative, said they have to look down the road. Thornton said the district is not financially stable enough to purchase Curtiss, upgrade Owen, and maintain a fleet of vehicles. There was also some discussion of how hard it is to coordinate a response when half the people are showing up at each station. Staffing shortages were also talked about with it being noted that even in bigger cities where firefighters are paid a salary, it is hard to find people, but people will go where the money is. Art Petke, Longwood representative, said one building wasn’t going to help with that. Fire Chief Travis Serocki said that all you need to be considered a fire station is one fire truck with four people responding. Thornton felt that having everything under one roof would make responses less confusing.
It was decided to approve a rental agreement with Curtiss for 2027 and then to go month-to-month after that if the new building isn’t complete, contingent upon getting a grant. The district will let Curtiss know as soon as they know whether they are getting a grant or not. This will allow Curtiss to start looking for a buyer for the building in Curtiss, but a buyer wouldn’t be able to take possession of the building until a new building is complete.
The district also approved allowing CBS Squared to write a grant for a new fire station at a cost of $15,000. The Sheriff’s Dept. will need to decide if they want to add a dispatch center or not as all the plans need to be completed before the grant can be submitted in the spring. The Fire & EMS Foundation will pay for half the price of writing the grant. There was also a question of whether the county would make a lump sum payment or a payment a year for five years, if they participate in the project. A joint meeting of the Owen-Withee-Curtiss Fire & EMS District and the Clark County Law Enforcement Committee would be needed to discuss the logistics. Larry Klabon, Withee representative, felt this was a good opportunity for the county, especially given the radio/communication issues that have existed in some areas of the county for over 40 years. Snyder asked if there were any downsides to going with a new building. The response was that a feasibility study had been done. A question was also asked about response times and Serocki said it depends on who responds. If they are already in town, the response is faster. In addition to writing the grant, there will also be a cost for drawing up and submitting the plans to the state for approval.