City officials must decide by the end of this fiscal year to build or remodel the Alpine fire station - or start paying income tax on a fire station bond that was approved in June 1995.
City administrator John Newman said the city has three years from the issuance of the $500,000 in general obligation bonds to use the money. The three years is up in June 1998. About 10 percent of the registered voters - 214 residents - approved the bonds to build a new fire station. Meanwhile, 177 voted against the bond proposal.So far, the city has done nothing about building or remodeling the fire station but instead has explored combining the fire station with Highland.
Now officials have decided against combining the fire station with its neighboring city, although it still favors constructing a public safety building to house a joint police station.
The issue surfaced Tuesday as the City Council met with architect John Vincent to look at his ideas in remodeling the historic City Hall, to which the fire station is attached, although not secured. The council voted to look at other alternatives, including the possibility of building a new City Hall.
Vincent said if an earthquake struck Alpine, the fire station is so unstable it would fall down around the fire trucks. Built in 1936, it also violates current state building codes and fire codes. He suggested shoring it up on the inside, adding on and building a set of doors on the back side so trucks would not have to back in.
He coupled that plan with adding onto City Hall, which is on the registry of historic Utah sites, matching the architecture and materials of the century-old structure.
Councilman Sheldon Wimmer said Vincent's design might work for now, but the city needed to look ahead 20 years. Officials should consider leasing or building a new structure, he said.
"The best way to destroy a historic building is to put it into non-use," said Mayor Joel Hall.
Vincent estimated the remodeling and addition would cost about $450,000. Officials had also planned on using a $100,000 federal grant and $66,000 in capital projects money. The federal grant had to be used within 18 months of the bond election.
"We lost that," Councilwoman Pheobe Blackham said.
Newman suggested that the city use the fire station bond money to refurbish the fire station and also use some of it for the City Hall because fire department business takes place there.
A public hearing will be held in January.