St. Charles May Ask Voters to Approve Bonds for New Fire Station, More

may ask voters in November to approve bond issues to pay for building a new fleet maintenance building, a new fire house and for repairs to the city parking garage. 

Voters would vote on issuing bonds for three seperate projects individually, although the total borrowed would be about $15.7 million. The council in early August is expected to approve putting the three propositions on the November ballot.

Proposition 1 would ask voters to approve borrowing $7.8 million for a fleet maintenance facility. Proposition 2 would approve borrowing $3.3 million for repairs to the city hall parking garage. Proposition 3 would seek approval for borrowing $4.1 million for the new fire house. 

The new fire house, which has been dubbed a new public safety facility because it may contain a police substation, is expected to cost about $5.4 million to build, but the city has $1.5 million in cash allocated for the project. 

The city council on Tuesday discussed the design of the fire station and public safety facility, which is expected to be built on Boschertown Road. The council talked about the need for a community room in the facility. Current design includes space for a 2,700 square foot room, which could be rented out by community groups or used as an emergency operations center during a flood. 

Councilman Mike Klinghammer, Ward-8, said the closest community room for residents who live on the north side of town is the . "It's not convenient for neighborhood meetings," he said. 

The council also discussed whether it's necessary to build a 4,569 square foot police station wing on the fire station. The council ultimately decided to ask for funding to build the addition, but could decide to scale back the size of the police station if it's not needed. 

Regardless of whether voters approve the propositions, the city would have to find a way to borrow money to pay for these items. 

"We still have to let the voters know this thing needs to get built one way or the other," Klinghammer said. "We still have to issue the debt to do it."