Sep. 22--City officials have begun the process of replacing Decatur's oldest and busiest fire station, at Danville Road Southwest and Presbyterian Drive, with a relocated station expected to cost $3 million.
With a nod from the Decatur City Council, Fire Chief Tony Grande and Chief Financial Officer John Andrzejewski plan to make an offer to purchase property for a new Fire Station No. 5.
The City Council would have to approve the purchase if negotiations are successful. The council agreed during a fiscal 2020 budget work session last week that the city needs to replace the station. Buying property and building the new fire station are expected to cost about $3 million.
"We've got to address Station 5," Council President Paige Bibbee said. "We've got to have a plan."
Grande said they have their eyes on a 2-acre commercial property that's on sale west of the current station on Danville Road Southwest. He said it's important not to move the station too far because this could impact ISO ratings used for homeowners' insurance rates.
The station opened in 1963. Its coverage area is west of Beltline Road Southwest and includes the largest part of the city's police jurisdiction.
Grande has had the station on a list of proposed capital projects since at least 2017. Even then Grande said the station had many problems, including its bay being too small for all but four of the department's fire trucks and having too little space for the firefighters who must occupy it.
The station also has the city's oldest fire truck, and Grande said it's time to replace it. While the fire truck has been running since 2001, it's one of the city's most dependable trucks.
It's only been out of service a handful of days this year. It's too big to fit into Station 5's truck bay, so its paint is fading.
"The guys love that truck," Grande said. "The thought of losing it to the junkyard may be more than they can handle."
Andrzejewski said the City Council must decide how to pay for the fire station and many of the city's other capital needs. If it were only a fire station, he said the city would pay for it with either cash or a warrant, which is paid off over less than 10 years.
If the station is combined with multiple items, then the council might go to the bond market. Bonds require a longer debt service time of 20 to 30 years. Andrzejewski said the city already knows it's going to need over $6 million for engineering and rights-of-way acquisition on the new Alabama 20 overpass.
"It's important we get everything out on the table so we can determine what we're going to borrow for and what we're not," Andrzejewski said.
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