City Council authorizes bidding for fire station

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — The city’s fire station committee has received the green light to proceed into its bidding stage following the approval of the Worthington City Council Monday evening.

After elaborate discussion among council members about the increase in proposed budget, the council reached a 4-1 vote in favor of the bidding. The estimated budget for the new fire station saw an increase from $4.42 million to $4.8 million due to an an increase in the amount of soil work.

A prominent concern is to build a regional training space large enough to accommodate all firemen as well as a potential emergency operation center.

“Right now if all the firemen (36) showed up for a meeting at the current fire hall, there wouldn’t be enough seats for them to be seated,” City Administrator Craig Clark said.

The new training room would allow occupancy of up to 64 people. Without building a larger training facility, Clark said the cost savings would be $54,000.

“I agree with the new firehall and I voted for the $4.4 million … but now since then, we’ve gotten more of a surprise,” said Alderman Mike Kuhle, who voted against the bidding process.

Also approved was the agreement between the District 518 Board of Education and city of Worthington concerning the use of a tennis court facility. In its previous meeting, council tabled the discussion due to the duration specified. Prior to Monday, the agreement stipulated that the city would be in an eight-year agreement and also contribute $235,000 to the cost of the project.

The eight-year period has now been eliminated. All eight tennis courts will be located on school property but members of the public will be allowed to use the facility strictly for tennis activities.

Other matters approved:

* The second reading of proposed ordinance allowing Worthington Country Club to rezone 3.18 acres of property from “S” (natural features) to “R-4”( medium density residential).

* An application for consumption and display permit as submitted by Hy-Vee. The permit will allow users of Hy-Vee’s community room to bring their own alcohol.

* A Safe and Sober agreement. Under the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety, there will be a grant to disburse officers’ overtime during crackdowns on impaired driving violations.

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