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NewsTuesday, August 28, 2007 4:10 PM CDT
Grant may help cut fire station overage
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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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Reader comments on this story - 3 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

To: Yo wrote on Aug 28, 2007 11:53 AM:

" You obviously don't have a clue as to what equipment is carried on those units. These vehicles carry much of the same supplies that an ambulance would carry. The only difference is that there is no patient compartment. How do you know they bought 5? Don't the Endeavor's start at around $27,000 and the Expedition's at around $31,000. Not much of a difference considering the extra room for equipment that needs to be carried. By the way the Expeditions get 14/19 mpg which is double what you stated, and the Endeavors get 17/23. Maybe the Ford was the best fit for what was needed. You should do a little research before you make inaccurate claims. You can get the vehicle info on the Mitsubishi and Ford websites. "

yo wrote on Aug 28, 2007 7:20 AM:

" they could have saved some money when they bought their paramedic units. the city buys those big gas hog fords for 40,000.00 pus each. they could have gotton smaller units for the paramedic to drive around in and done the same for less money. if they buy 5 of these they spend $225,000.00, they could have spent half and had a better unit. they get about 7-10 mpg. the paramdic can use a smaller unit because the equpment they care is small in med boxes, they do not transport people just one P. the BFD is spending way to much tax money for things they do not need. a small jeep like or mitsubishi endeavor. the little chief just need to be controlled, and the mayor just sets and watches. time to change things around here. "

Uhhh... wrote on Aug 28, 2007 12:36 AM:

" shouldn't we build the intersection first? "

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