Watertown council approves long-term note for fire station, backs new signal system as city grapples with rising simultaneous calls

Watertown City Council on Tuesday approved a general-obligation promissory note to refinance short-term borrowing for the new fire station and to fund the city’s 2025 capital improvement program, and separately approved purchase of Opticom emergency-vehicle signal preemption equipment as council members pressed the fire department for data on rising simultaneous calls.

The financing resolution, presented to the council by Brad Vigoot of Baird, would set parameters for a general-obligation promissory note with an estimated issue size of $18,585,000 to (1) retire short-term borrowing used for the fire station and (2) provide $4,250,000 for the city’s capital program. Vigoot said the plan uses a 19-year amortization for the fire-station portion, with final payment in 2044. “The estimated interest rate on this note is 4.56%,” he said, noting the city expects to finalize terms in early June and close the note July 1.

That financing resolution passed on a roll-call vote. Council members who voted in favor included Lampe, Berg, Bartz, Blankey, Smith, Arnett, Wetzel, Moldenhauer and Davis.

Why it matters: council members said the refinancing will lock long-term terms for the fire station and free $4.25 million for routine capital projects. Alderman Lampe asked whether the city could refinance later if market rates improved; Vigoot said the note cannot be prepaid for 10 years but the city retains prepayment options on other debt.

The council also approved a resolution to purchase Opticom equipment designed to give emergency vehicles priority at traffic signals. Alderman Berg called the software “a miracle worker” for helping fire vehicles navigate high-traffic areas and urged staff to watch its performance after installation. The Opticom resolution passed on a unanimous roll-call vote.

During the department’s annual report and monthly update, the fire chief described operational strain from an increase in simultaneous calls—incidents that arrive before crews from a prior call are back in service. “Seventy-two percent of our calls are EMS,” the chief said, adding that the department currently staffs one paramedic-level ambulance (two personnel) and an engine with four personnel. “So when we go on a second out call… we’re taking people off of the fire engine to staff a second out ambulance,” the chief said, and the department has relied more on mutual aid as a result.

Council members asked for more breakdowns. Alderman Turner requested an analysis of last year’s simultaneous calls to show how many were EMS-only versus EMS-plus-fire; the chief said the department recently migrated records systems and may only be able to produce that level of detail going forward but will try to provide a quarterly breakdown. The chief also said the department is tracking 90th-percentile response times and will compare six-month windows before and after the station move to monitor the effect of the new location and any Opticom installation.

What the council directed: staff and the chief will (1) attempt to provide a quarter- or year-to-date analysis of simultaneous-call types; (2) produce a six-month comparison of response times from the old and new station locations; and (3) monitor Opticom performance after installation.

No appeals, challenges or litigation were raised in the discussion. The financing resolution and Opticom purchase are proceeding under council-approved parameters and will move to closing and procurement steps under city staff authority.

Looking ahead: Vigoot said the city will finalize terms in early June and close the note July 1, at which point the capital funds will be available and the short-term fire-station borrowing will be retired.