02-26-18 Zoning and Annexation - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Todd Skwarcan, Assistant Fire Chief for the South Bend Fire Department with offices located at 1222 S. Michigan Street, stated, Thank you, Council, for your continued support of this project. As many of you know, it has been a long time coming. It has been a hard-fought and well-fought collaborative process. We've had many partners in the City and we thank all of them. We are opening bids tomorrow at the Board of Public Works meeting. As has been discussed, a couple main goals of the building were to provide modern facilities for our firefighters. This is a proposed 10,000 square foot facility. Our current station on the Avenue was built in 1926 and is not suitable for a mixed gender workforce not to mention its ability to house modern fire apparatus. The old one (1) only had a single bay so it lacked the ability for us to put other equipment in that facility. With this new structure we will be able to house Engine Nine(9),an ambulance and our boat truck. Immediately to the south of the site, there is a neighbor that wanted to stay in their home. Chief Cox has met personally with that property owner and the neighbor had a couple requests of the City. One (1) being the removal of a tree that was on the southeast of the property and the other was the addition of a white vinyl fence. We are fine with those two (2) concerns and we worked well with that neighbor. Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked, Is 10,000 square feet the new standard? Asst. Chief Skwarcan replied, Not necessarily. It is larger to ensure the housing of our boat and trailer. Councilmember Broden asked, So was that neighbor that remained in their home offered to sell? Asst. Chief Skwarcan replied, Yes and we did enter negotiations. There were there (3) owners of five (5)properties and we did engage in some negations but in the end they were not comfortable with moving. Their offer they received from us was comparable to the other offers we gave. Councilmember Sharon L. McBride asked, What time is the Board of Public Works meeting tomorrow? Asst. Chief Skwarcan replied, That will be tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. on the 13th floor of the County- City Building. Councilmember Broden stated, I would just like to commend all involved with this process. This has been great. Committee Chair Davis then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. He then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 04-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Broden seconded the motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 18-03- Special Exception for Property 915 271h Street 3