The Owen-Withee Curtiss Fire District met on Wednesday, February 18 to come up with a plan for a new fire station after grant funding they were hoping for fell through. The Village of Withee and towns of Green Grove and Hixon had no member present.

A committee was put together to include Dan Goessl, Art Petke, Jason Thornton and Jane Stroiber. They will work with Travis Serocki, Bob Wilczek, Grace Dale and Diane Benrud from the fire department.

Goessl said that they need to set protocols for grants before they hire anyone in the future. Fire Chief Serocki explained that things changed with the grants during the application process.

Thornton said they should send a letter from the Fire District expressing their concerns. Bob Wilczek was instructed to draft a letter to be sent to the Wisconsin Towns Association and area legislators. Thornton will ask the city to hold off a little bit longer as they had only agreed to hold the land the Fire District wanted until the first of the year. Other people were suggested as possible advocates for the Fire District.

Thornton felt they need to talk to CBS Squared again. Goessl is not willing to put the cost on the taxpayers. Mark Nosko suggested they get an actual cost for the building, assuming no grant help. The question was also asked if a private business might be willing to donate funds toward the construction. Could anything in the plan be eliminated to cut costs if they don’t get any grant funding? Art Petke suggested working with a finance company to see what each municipality would need to pay and then do an operating loan. Thornton questioned what people can afford. They might get a USDA grant, but that would only cover 15% of the cost. They would have to get a loan for the rest, which they would have to get from the USDA. He questioned what the municipalities are using their Act 12 funds that are supposed to go toward police and fire protection for and could that be used toward a payment along with what would be saved by not paying rent and utilities in Curtiss.

It was suggested that they get a floor plan and then talk to a contractor. They would still need an engineer to do state approved plans.

Stroiber said that the Village of Curtiss would be willing to extend the rental agreement with the Fire District for another year to the end of 2027, but were not willing to include the provision that the district could pay month by month until the building was completed.

The board decided to send the letter first and then look at the total cost of the building and what they can do. In the meantime, the fire department members of the committee will look to see if anything can be cut from the plan. The Fire District will meet to discuss the issue again in about a month.