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Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
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| NewsMonday, August 27, 2007 11:48 PM CDT |
Grant may help cut fire station overage
BLOOMINGTON — A state grant may save some of the features for the city’s new fire station on the west side of Bloomington. The city was notified of the grant Friday as part of the state budget signed last week. The money, about $250,000, could cover some of the $400,000 the project is over budget. Because of the grant, the Bloomington City Council made no decision Monday as to whether to seek new bids for the project because the lowest bid exceeded the budgeted amount. The contractors offering the lowest bid on the project submitted a $3.4 million proposal, but the city has budgeted $3 million. City Manager Tom Hamilton said the city’s staff will look at how and when the state money will be available and how the project can be changed. “We need to talk about it and take a fresh look at the plans with the architect to see what can be redesigned,” Hamilton said. The issue is scheduled to return to the council Sept. 10. The new fire station is to be built at Six Points Road and Mitsubishi Motorway. Initially, the station was to be completed May 2008, but the delays in hiring a contractor could push the completion to fall 2008. Before the city was notified of the state grant, Bloomington Fire Department officials said features in the building that made it friendly for the environment such as a wind turbine and solar panels may have to be cut from the project to meet the $3 million budget. Hamilton said the grant may help save some of those “green” features. In other business, the council approved an ordinance that ends city inspections and registrations of elevators. That job will now fall to state inspectors. Mark Huber, director of Planning and Code Enforcement, said recent state changes in how inspections must be conducted make it difficult for city inspectors to do the job. |
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