Council debates using assigned building fund to repair fire stations after prior new‑station plan failed

Councilors on May 4 examined the city’s assigned building fund balance and competing priorities for public safety facilities.

Amy Gordon, the city treasurer, said the assigned building fund ended the prior fiscal year with about $5.5 million and after obligations the working balance is roughly $5.2 million. Fire Chief Greg Reitmeyer described outstanding safety and contamination issues at three stations and urged action to protect personnel: “We need all three stations to have health and safety modifications made immediately,” he said, adding that industrial hygienists had advised remediation needs.

Councilors and staff reviewed the history: the city previously spent roughly $900,000 on land and design for a proposed new station at Fifth and Brighton that council later declined because of location and contract concerns. Estimates discussed on May 4 indicated several million dollars would still be needed to complete or update that project and that addressing all three existing stations was also expensive; staff said a prior rough order of magnitude to bring stations up to standard was about $4 million.

Councilor comments split on strategy. Some members favored selling the reserved land and using proceeds to upgrade current stations and complete deferred maintenance across the city; others said the existing parcels (including the held site) are useful until a better consolidated site is identified. Parks, facilities and fire staff proposed returning a prioritized plan that specifies guaranteed maximums for specific remediation work so facilities teams could design within a clear budget envelope.

What happens next: staff committed to bring more specific prioritized proposals and costed options to the council soon, and parks/facilities agreed to present a timeline for deferred‑maintenance and station safety projects.