When the city of Waukesha began looking at relocating one of its fire stations in 2013, then-city administrator Ed Henschel said acquiring the needed land would be a lengthy process.
Henschel was right. Seventeen months later, the process is still ongoing. As a result, a long-planned fire station relocation on the city's southwest side will not happen in 2015 as planned.
Acting Fire Chief Steve Howard sent Finance Director Richard Abbott a memo on April 1 stating that the construction of Fire Station No. 3 has been delayed due to "complications in securing land" and a station now won't likely be built until 2016.
Ongoing church talks
Howard said the city is still moving forward in negotiations with St. John Neumann Catholic Church to acquire the property adjacent to the church for the fire station. The church is between Genesee Road and Fox River Parkway, along Highway 59.
"They're still working through the details of a location, and we're still going to build it, but it's just being pushed back until 2016," Abbott said. "This was originally proposed for 2014, but unfortunately there is just a lot of moving parts. We want to make sure everything is done right."
Howard, however, said if the property acquisition with the church is unsuccessful the anticipated surplus land from the Department of Transportation Highway Project could be utilized. Abbott said this state-owned land is a parcel for which the state doesn't have a specific need, and it's near the property where the city wants to built.
Abbott said the fire station will be funded through a long-term financing plan, likely 20 years. Abbott said taxpayers won't begin paying interest on the building for another year.
Money moves
The project, as part of the city's five-year Capital Improvement Plan budget, was moved from the 2014 budget to 2015 because land negotiations were still in its early stages.
The common council in November then approved the budget that included the relocation of the fire station for about $4.55 million. A police substation and a Parks, Recreation and Forestry building on site were added to the projected cost.
However, Howard said the city expects to use about $750,000 of that money in 2015 as it continues to work with representatives from the Engineering Department, IT Department, architects and engineers. These expenses include the cost of land acquisition, architectural, engineering fees and permits. Abbott stressed the figure is an estimate that could change.
"We're keeping some money in 2015 so we can keep the project moving," Abbott said. "But we didn't want to borrow the $4.5 million ahead of time when the project wasn't going to happen in 2015."
With the full project not happening this year, Howard said that as part of the 2016 budget he will update the total anticipated construction cost and, if possible, have actual bid amounts to accurately reflect the total cost of the project and funds needed in 2016.
Strategic goal
A new fire station for the southwest side of the city has been talked about for years.
City officials have said a new fire station is needed so the fire department can better meet response times in a segment of the city that has seen its boundaries grow and expand over the last several years.
The current Fire Station No. 3, which has been located at 1210 Sentry Drive since 1981, is about two miles or five minutes northeast of where the new station would be housed.
Given the growth in that part of that part of the city, the fire department has found it increasingly difficult to meet its seven-minute response time for a small section there.
Alderman Aaron Perry, who represents constituents in this district, brought the issue to the forefront a couple years ago after it took almost 10 minutes to respond to a fire.