The process of moving the Oconto Falls Fire Department into its $7.3 million new station is almost complete, Chief Tim Magnin reported to the Oconto Falls City Council Oct. 8.
“I just need to submit two more invoices, then I can start the closeout process,” Magnin said, referring the paperwork that needs to be completed for the $7 million grant that allowed for construction of the new station. The closeout must be done before the end of the year, and Magnin said it should be completed ahead of the deadline.
Meanwhile, the department is almost finished emptying out its former home at 98 Jackson St., with removal of some filing cabinets and then some final sweeping and cleanup, he said. Leftover tables, chairs and other equipment can be sold as surplus or given to other city departments, Magnin said.
“The only thing to remember is if we totally sell the building, the tornado siren is tied to that building for power,” he added.
The siren can run on a battery charge that is good for weeks in case electricity is out long-term, but it’s wired into the Jackson Street structure.
“I don’t think we have an intention of getting rid of that facility,” Alderperson Mat McDermid said.
In fact, Utility Manager Greg Kuhn said he and City Administrator Peter Wills have talked about making the former fire station property a permanent home for Oconto Falls Municipal Utilities.
“We went over and looked at it and had a conversation about the utility use of that building and what it would look like,” Kuhn told the council.
The facility might work well with an addition and some renovation, he said.
“Where the back parking lot is, that would become a secondary building that would be attached to the primary building — high ceilings, pallet racking, it would have two doors on one end, one door on the other for our department’s tall trucks,” Kuhn said. “Our smaller vehicles would be stored on the front side of the building, there would an access hole cut in the building so we could get a forklift from side to side if we needed.”
The utilities conceivably could consolidate their operations at the Jackson Street location, he said.
“It’s going to take a financial investment to make it work completely,” Kuhn said. “When you have three utilities that are going to share the cost of something, it makes it a lot more palatable. It’s a matter of the city and the utility coming to an agreement on what the purchase agreement looks like on that building and then moving forward with that plan.”
He conceded he has no solid information about what the addition might cost. As for the purchase itself, a local Realtor did a market analysis and estimated the value of the old fire station is anywhere between $300,000 and $400,000.
Kuhn said he and Wills are gravitating toward a purchase price of $350,000, which the utilities would prefer to spread out over a lease-to-own or land contract sort of agreement. The matter would come before the utility commission and city council sometime in the future.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
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