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North Branch Fire hall on way to construction phaseA new fire hall is on its way to being built after Monday nightís special North Branch City Council meeting. The council decided to award the construction bid for the fire hall to Rochon Corp., which came in with the lowest bid on the project. Rochon Corp. gave a base price bid of $1.013 million and the council approved spending nearly $1.07 million for some additional features, including in-floor radiant heat, a lawn irrigation system and concrete paving for the driveway. The next lowest bidder was The Builders, with a low bid of $1.072 million and a special features bid of $1.116 million. A tour and open house was held last Tuesday evening at the current North Branch fire station on County Road 30. The current building is much too small for the departmentís vehicles, supplies and other equipment, said fire chief Don Brown. Brown said he was thankful that the public came out last fall and voted for a bonding referendum that allowed property taxes to be collected to fund the project. He said the passage of the bond referendum showed that the community supported the fire department. Other parts of the total 30 acre parcel may be used in the future for a community center, ball fields and parks. The new building will be 10,500 square feet. It will be built on approximately 10 acres of land the city bought off County Road 30. The station will have four bays, a hose tower and more room to organize fire fighter turn-out gear. David Olds, an architect with Buetow and Associates, told the council that subsequent meetings with fire department members and residents since the bid requests were released revealed that a special type of bay door might be beneficial on the fire station. He also said the department was interested in adding a fifth bay to the project. Olds told the council he was pleased to see the Rochon Corp. bid come in much below his original estimate of the projectís cost. He said a new fire station in Hugo, which did not have a mezzanine storage or hose tower cost $1.1 million in 1998 and he had expected 2002 bids to be significantly higher. ©ECM Post Review |