Fairfield Township holds first reading on $2.5M Fire Station 211 repairs; approves fire and police levies for May ballot

Fairfield Township Board of Trustees on Tuesday held a first reading of a proposal to renovate Fire Station 211 and approved separate measures to place a fire levy and a police levy on the May 2026 ballot.

The administrator and consultants presented a renovation scope for Fire Station 211 that included an estimated base repair cost of about $2,464,043, plus recommended alternates totaling roughly $130,005.67 and an estimated $100,000 to replace the station’s alerting system. The administrator also noted backup material showing a contract package with a base not-to-exceed figure of $2,400,000 plus alternates listed at $130,567.89 (total cited in backup: $2,594,610.89). The board kept Resolution 26-07 as a first reading to allow further review of financing options.

Amy Huckey, an architect with Community Design Alliance, said her firm’s study identified water infiltration driven by the existing roofscape and recommended replacing it with a single-slope roof as part of the repairs. “That renovation would be eliminating the current roofscape … and putting a single slope roof on the building,” Huckey said during the presentation.

Trustees questioned construction staging and cost and asked staff to present financing scenarios. Fire leadership described a temporary operations plan that would keep three firefighters at the station during construction while moving other staff to a nearby facility and housing on-site personnel in a temporary trailer to maintain coverage.

Rather than vote on the renovation contract Tuesday, trustees asked staff to return with comparative financing options (five-, 10- and 20-year terms) and estimated fees so the board can weigh using TIF reserves versus borrowing.

Separately, the board adopted Resolution 26-15 to place a 4.49-mill fire levy on the May ballot and Resolution 26-16 to place a 2.99-mill police levy on the same ballot. The administrator said the fire levy is projected to generate $3,693,427 per year and estimated a homeowner with a $100,000 valuation would pay about $157 annually under that levy. The police levy was projected to generate about $2,459,542 over five years and was estimated to cost roughly $105 per $100,000 valuation.

Paul Yeckel, a Fairfield Township resident, urged trustees to coordinate with the school district after the district announced plans for an earned-income levy, warning that overlapping tax proposals could overwhelm voters. “If the board goes for a property tax along with the school district money, it’s gonna be ugly,” Yeckel said during public comment.

Trustees debated the timing and political difficulty of asking voters for multiple measures. Some trustees urged preserving cash and exploring financing to avoid spending down TIF reserves, while others said voters should decide whether to maintain current service levels.

Next steps: Resolution 26-07 (Fire Station 211 renovation) will return for additional review with requested financing options; the fire and police levy questions will appear on the May 2026 ballot as adopted by the board.