“Motion carried. We are building a fire station,” said Flandreau Mayor Dan Sutton.
This past week, the Flandreau City Council — after more than three years of planning, preparation, discussions about financing, materials shortages, price hikes, more planning, and taking public input, made a final decision on the buildout of a new Flandreau Fire Station.
Council members voted Tuesday to approve the base bid from WS Construction for $2,947,000. They also voted to approve the construction of a mezzanine, or special dedicated storage area, for an additional $72,000.
A new display area for the old antique fire truck, which currently sits on 2nd Avenue in the old Fire Hall, was not included in the final plan, nor was an outdoor sprinkler system.
There is $1.5M in financing already established for the project. The city will most likely borrow an additional $475,000 from the local branch of the First Savings Bank.
“It’s been a long process to get here but I think we’ve really done our due diligence on this one. We’ve made some really tough decisions but I believe it’s put us in a really good position to proceed with this project,” said City Administrator Cohl Turnquist.
Also discussed at the most recent meeting of the Flandreau City Council:
In order to make way for the new fire station development, abatement needs to happen with the elevators on that block. An asbestos inspection was recently done. Once the results come back on that and the city understands what its working with, the elevator will come down. Claflin Construction received that bid.
A new City logo has been adopted. (See page 10)
Tom Hansen will again operate the City Park Concession Stand for the summer of 2023.
City staff is already looking ahead to summer and suggested a wage increase for staff at the Aquatic Center. The City wants to remain competitive to keep good help. There is already a 3% wage increase each year for any returning staff member.
Kerry Sanderson and Jason Unger were approved to the Housing Corporation Board. The HCB is currently looking at ways to add additional affordable housing options, apartments especially, to the local housing stock.