Fire/Police Renovation/Expansion

As you’ve read here and elsewhere, citizens will vote on July 8 to enact a 1-cent sales tax to renovate/expand our Fire, Police and municipal building. This is an extremely important question that citizens must address and I have been asked many questions about the project. One of the most common questions is listed below.

Question: Why not build across the street on land already owned by the city?

Answer: Building a new Fire Station across the street was thoroughly considered. It was not recommended for the following reasons:

· Expanding the Fire Department resulted in 2,500 more square feet than building new.
· A new Fire Station provided little assistance to the Police Department which also has space shortages
· The Fire and Police Departments cooperate daily and even share an administrative staff person. Splitting the departments would result in additional staff costs
· The existing building has roof, heating, air conditioning and structural problems that would still have to be fixed resulting in extra cost
· A new building would result in taxpayers maintaining two buildings instead of just one. Two boiler systems, two air conditioning systems, two roofs, etc.
· Family Video bought the land for $450,000 and pays about $40,000 annually in city, county and school taxes
· The current building houses not only Fire and Police, but also the Clerks Office, Community Development, Mayor and Manager. There are significant economies experienced by having all those departments under one roof

As you can see, there are many reasons to expand the existing site as opposed to building across the street. It is more efficient, cost saving and provides more space for the dollars spent.

I will continue to update this blog with other Fire/Police Building renovation questions because this is such an important issue for Indianola residents. If you have specific questions, feel free to email me at tzisoff@cityofindianola.com. I will not only respond to your email, but will answer them here so that all residents can have the same information.