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Suamico board approves agreements with County Rescue

By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer


SUAMICO – Two agreements, which depend upon County Rescue being able to occupy space in a finished second story of the new Fire Station No. 1, were approved Monday, Jan. 20, by the Suamico village board.

On a 5-1 vote, with Village President Laura Nelson being the lone dissenter, the board approved an ambulance service agreement from April 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2035, in which County Rescue would provide emergency medical service in the village at $70,000 per year, the same rate the village is contracted to pay County Rescue in 2020.

On a separate 4-2 vote, with Trustee Michelle Eckert joining Nelson in opposition, the board approved a lease agreement for the same time period, in which County Rescue would use designated areas of the new fire station and pay the village $35,000 per year, prorated.

According to the lease agreement, approximately 4,180 square feet – 2,650 square feet of office and 1,530 square feet of garage space – would be leased to County Rescue.

The Fire Station No. 1 project will be built at the intersection of Deerfield Lane and Riverside Drive.

It is being designed by the project architect, Five Bugles Design, to have two stories with 20,550 square feet, including a living quarters area of 6,050 square feet.

County Rescue currently is located on its own property in the village on County Trunk B.

Village Administrator Alex Kaker said finishing the second story of the new fire station, which is scheduled for completion early next year, is estimated to cost $450,000 more than leaving it empty.

Kaker said the village would recover that cost in approximately 13 years by leasing space at $35,000 per year to County Rescue, but that wouldn’t take into account utility costs and depreciation on the second floor during those years.

Another consideration Kaker noted for locating County Rescue, a non-taxable entity, in the new fire station related to the possibility County Rescue could sell its property to a taxable entity.

From that, he said the village would receive approximately $4,200 a year in property taxes, based on an assessed value of $900,000 for a site currently not generating property taxes for Suamico.

Kaker said the agreements with County Rescue wouldn’t be valid if the second floor wasn’t finished, so the village board still has the option not to finish that portion of Fire Station No. 1 based on the overall project cost.

The village is seeking to keep the Fire Station No. 1 project below $6 million.

Eckert suggested holding off on entering into the agreements with County Rescue until finding out specific costs for the second floor.

“I think this is putting something before the other thing,” she said.

Board members who supported the agreements said they wanted to know if County Rescue wants to lease finished space to lessen the village’s cost.

“To me, if County Rescue wasn’t interested in partnering with us and leasing that facility or leasing that space, I don’t know how much more we have to discuss about the second floor, because you just have empty space, dead space, being unused, that’s not bringing in any revenue, that’s not covering its costs,” said Trustee Sky Van Rossum. “Now I think we’re in a position where the cost of that second floor (is) covered, and it’s a pretty significant impact to the village…”

Trustee Mike Schneider said finishing the second floor would be an “asset” to the village by leasing out the space.

Nelson said the board could still decide not to finish the second floor, which she called “one piece of an overall puzzle that looks to be about 1,500 pieces” for the Fire Station No. 1 project.

However, by approving the contracts now with County Rescue, Nelson said the numbers in those agreements wouldn’t change if the cost to complete the second floor came in higher than the current $450,000 estimate.

“On the other hand, if it’s $100,000 less, or $50,000 less, that works to our advantage,” she said. “If it’s $25,000 more, it works to County Rescue’s advantage… At this point, to approve or not, on Jan. 20, that’s the risk you take.”

Van Rossum said the board still has the freedom to leave the second floor as a shell if the cost for finishing it comes in significantly higher.

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