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The Town of Beloit Fire Department building is being considered for replacement.
The Town of Beloit Fire Department building is being considered for replacement.
BELOIT TOWNSHIP — The Beloit Town Board got one more heated discussion out of the ongoing fire station debate.
The board voted 3-1 on Monday night to approve a $168,000 contract with Angus Young Architects of Janesville to design a seven-bay station behind the current Station No. 1 at 2445 Afton Road. The contract is not for construction but for design of a 20,000-square-foot building with offices, living and sleeping quarters and storage space.
Angus Young's previous feasibility study estimated the cost of the new station at $3 million.
The board voted to not make any improvements to Station No. 2 at 1143 Inman Parkway. It was built in 1969 and has been plagued with leaky roofs and other problems, officials have said. Firefighters work hard to maintain it, said paid-per-call firefighter Jeff Pearson.
"I think that station over there is a huge asset to our town," Pearson said.
Angus Young had proposed also designing a five-bay station on Afton Road and designing improvements to the older station, but Supervisor Phil Taber's motion to approve that plan died from lack of a second.
Taber voted against the seven-bay station proposal. Supervisor Dave Townsend was absent.
Fire Chief Dennis Ahrens said it's important for his department to keep using the Inman Parkway station to serve the east side of the township. But board Chairman Greg Groves was against putting money into two stations.
"We can't have a fire station on every corner," Groves said.
The Town of Beloit Fire Department serves an area bordered by Bayliss Avenue to the south, Airport Road to the north, Prairie Avenue to the west and Johnson Road to the west, Ahrens said.
Monday's vote is another step forward in the discussion that's been ongoing for several years.
"We've beat this and beat this and beat this," Groves said when he opened discussion on the issue Monday night.
In February, the board rejected Angus Young's design proposal for a new $3.4 million fire department and $1.4 million town hall. The two projects would have increased the town's tax levy by 22.5 percent, Administrator Bob Museus said at the time.
In August, the board approved an $8,600 feasibility study for the station.
Groves said if the board votes to build a new station, construction could start in 2009.