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Council approves $1.7M Aboite station expansion; Arcola purchase fails for lack of second
Summary
Allen County Council split West Central Fire District's $2.475 million request, approving $1.7 million to expand Aboite (Base 180) with new sleeping rooms, showers and decontamination space and rejecting a $475,000 purchase of the privately owned Arcola station after no second was offered.
Allen County Council on April 15 approved $1.7 million for renovations and an addition to West Central Fire District's Aboite Station to convert volunteer-era space for full-time crews, adding individual sleeping rooms, decontamination showers and a fitness area.
Chris Perez, fiscal officer for West Central, told council the district reduced its ask from $3.3 million to $2,475,000 and split the request into two parts: a $2 million campus expansion at Aboite and a $475,000 purchase to acquire the privately held Arcola Volunteer Fire Station. Perez said the construction quote from BW Construction priced the addition at $1.7 million with roughly $300,000 for fixtures and contingency. "We would like to reduce that request to $2,475,000 this evening," Perez said.
The Council majority said the immediate safety and habitability needs at Aboite justified the vote. Councilman Kyle Kerley moved the $1.7 million appropriation; the motion carried with four in favor and two opposed (President Bob Armstrong and Councilman Tom Harris recorded as opposed). Councilman Paul Lagemann and others emphasized the need to avoid leaving full-time crews in cramped, volunteer-era quarters.
By contrast a separate motion to appropriate $475,000 to purchase the Arcola station failed for lack of a second. Council members questioned spending on a privately held building without a countywide station master plan. "You can only do a one-year lease at a time," Chief Gale Stelzer said in describing the Aboite lease arrangements for Council's consideration; West Central reported a restored $1 lease for Base 180 but said the Arcola property must be purchased before renovations could proceed there.
Council left open the possibility of reconsidering Arcola later when a countywide master plan clarifies station siting under the consolidated fire-district plan.
