Boyceville’s new fire station expected to be completed Friday
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — Boyceville’s new $1.6 million fire station is expected to be completed by Friday, December 20.
Cory Green, Boyceville fire chief, reported at the Boyceville Community Fire District’s Board of Directors meeting December 11 that he was “still” being told the fire station would be done by the following Friday.
The cleaning crew was expected to start working on the station the day after the fire board meeting, Green said.
Boyceville firefighters have been working on slowly moving some of their equipment to the new fire station, he said.
The final payment on the fire station will not be made until spring after the site has been completely leveled and the landscaping is completed, Green said.
The total amount of sales tax savings on the fire station is $30,725, he noted.
At a bid opening earlier this year on March 6, Shefchik Builders, Inc. out of Menomonie emerged as the low bidder with a base bid of $1,612,456 to build the new fire station in Boyceville.
The base bid included sales tax, but the fire district is a tax exempt entity.
If the fire district issued purchase orders for certain items, the contractor could purchase those items tax exempt, resulting in a 5.5 percent discount, said Dave Cihasky, the architect with Wendel ADG/Five Bugles Design who designed the fire station, at the March 6 bid opening.
Tax exempt items include construction materials for the building, electrical components and carpeting.
The steel for the building, the concrete, landscaping, flooring, doors and windows are all sales-tax exempt, according to Brian Shefchik, a representative for Shefchik Builders, at the March 6 meeting.
Generator
At the time of the bid opening, fire board members learned the savings on sales tax could be put toward purchasing a generator for the new fire station.
At the December 11 fire board meeting, Green reported he had obtained information about making the generator for the fire station “dual fuel.”
The cost to have a generator that could burn either natural gas or Liquid Propane from an LP tank would be about $3,500, he said.
The generator currently runs off natural gas.
Converting the generator so that is can use natural gas or LP requires testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), so that’s why the cost is $3,500, Green said.
Since the generator will be used at a fire station, it needs to be tested and receive certification, he said.
Paul Heifner, representative for the Town of Sherman, wondered about using compressed natural gas for the generator.
The storage tanks for compressed natural gas “are not cheap” and they take up twice as much room as LP tanks, Green said.
In the event that the fire department would need an alternative fuel source for the generator, because the natural gas has shut down, “we have bigger problems anyway,” Green said.
Bob Anderson, representative for the Town of Stanton, wondered how many times the natural gas service has been interrupted in Boyceville.
“I’m worried about the first time,” said Gilbert Krueger, chair of the fire board and Boyceville village president.
If the generator is intended to be used in an emergency, it should be able to be used in an emergency, he said.
The fire station project will not technically be closed out until the spring, so the fire board does not need to make a decision now, Green said.
Members of the fire board unanimously approved a motion to table the decision on whether to make the generator dual fuel until next spring.
Fire district agreement
At the November meeting, representatives on the fire board approved asking the Bakke-Norman law offices to review the updated fire district agreement.
Darlene Lee, clerk-treasurer for the fire district, said she had contacted several attorneys recommended by the Bakke-Norman receptionist who would have experience with that kind of agreement.
Lee said one of the attorneys had returned her e-mail message and said he represented a couple of the fire district members and that it would be a conflict of interest and a violation of state ethics rules to review the fire district agreement.
The fire district will have to find a law firm that has not been used by the village of Boyceville or any of the townships in the fire district, she said.
Krueger recommended contacting the Loberg law office out of Ellsworth.
Loberg has not represented the village, although the village has had contact with the law office regarding several real estate closings and title searches, he said.
Lukas Montgomery, representative for the village of Boyceville, asked about Tim Sempf as a possibility to review the fire district agreement.
Sempf, an attorney, is president of the Boyceville school board, and Montgomery also wondered if being on the school board could be construed as a conflict of interest since school district buildings are within the fire district.
Krueger said he did not know if Sempf did any work in real estate law.
Several fire board members suggested contacting both Sempf and Loberg.
The fire district representatives approved a motion to contact both Sempf and Loberg to find out if either would be willing or able to review the updated fire district agreement.
Open house
When would be the best time to have an open house at the new fire station, on a Sunday afternoon or a Saturday afternoon? Green asked.
Would it be a small dedication with coffee and cake or something larger with raffles and auctions? Krueger asked.
Green said he was thinking the open house would be of the “cake and coffee” variety.
If the open house is on a Sunday afternoon, it would be a good idea to wait until after football season, Lee noted.
Green said he was thinking the open house could be in February and that the fire district members could discuss the open house at the next meeting.
The Boyceville fire district board meets next on January 15 at the new fire hall on Charlotte Street at 6:30 p.m.
