Bids could go out in February for new Boyceville fire hall
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — In just a few short months, the Boyceville Community Fire District could be advertising for bids to build a new fire station.
Dave Cihasky, an architect with Five Bugles Design, spoke to the Boyceville fire board at the December 11 meeting about the timeline for building a new fire station.
“Next year at this time, we could be standing in the new fire hall — if you choose to do that,” Cihasky said.
Cihasky said he had been waiting for the site plan to be completed by Erik Evenson, a senior engineer with MSA Professional Services.
The site plan is finished and has been reviewed to make sure the turn radius and ingress and egress are acceptable, and “we do not see any issues,” Cihasky said.
MSA also does work for the village, so coordinating with the village on the site plan will be easily accomplished, he said.
The next step will be to submit the site plan to the state Department of Natural Resources for stormwater management permits, Cihasky said.
The site will need a stormwater catch basin and a swale to capture as much water as possible, he said.
With the holidays in December, no DNR permits are likely to be issued until the middle of January, Cihasky noted.
The building plans were submitted to the state for approval last spring, and the plans were approved last summer, he said.
The DNR permit process must “run its course” before the project is put out for bids, Cihasky said, adding that the project could be advertised for bids in late January or early February.
Cihasky said he would coordinate the bidding process with Darlene Lee, village clerk-treasurer and the clerk for the fire district, so that all of the proper notifications are completed.
The plan would be to advertise for bids in February and have the bid back by the end of February or the first part of March for summer construction, he said.
Ground could be broken for the new fire station as soon as the frost is out of the ground in April, Cihasky noted.
Construction on the new fire station would not start, of course, until the fire board has formally accepted a bid, he said.
If the Boyceville fire board needs a special meeting for the fire station bids, the meeting should be scheduled as soon as possible, said Ned Hahn, representative for the Town of Hay River.
Cihasky said he has been in regular communication with Cory Green, fire chief, and with MSA as well as with Kim Kaarto from the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics.
The proposed site for the new fire station is on a four-acre lot owned by the village directly south of the airport and east of the Synergy convenience store.
The Boyceville Village Board has approved an option for the fire district to purchase the lot for $16,000.
Since there was a delay on the site engineer, “it did not pay to go out for bids this fall,” Cihasky said.
The fire board will have one bid to consider that includes site development and the building from foundation to roof, he said.
The contractor will establish the timetable for the building, Cihasky said.
Any adjustments that might be needed to the MSA site plan will be completed by January 1, and then the site plan will go to the DNR for the stormwater permit, he said, adding that is possible the solicitation for bids could go out at the end of January with bids due the first or second week of March.
By April 1, the fire district should have all of the information needed for the fire station, Cihasky said.
The Boyceville Community Fire Board meets next on January 16 at the Boyceville village hall on Charlotte Street following the quarterly Boyceville ambulance district meeting at 6:30 p.m.
