CHILTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Construction began Wednesday for Chilton’s new $2.75 million fire department.
The new fire station will be replacing the current building, which was built nearly 90 years ago. Apart from its age, the building has caused problems in other ways.
Because of the building’s size, the Chilton Fire Department has to order special fire trucks.
“Right now, any truck that we receive is specially made so that it fits through our doors,” said Chilton Mayor Tom Reinl. “We won’t have to order trucks that are lower than what they’re manufactured.”
Despite the project’s multi-million dollar price tag, Reinl says it won’t raise taxes.
“The money basically was borrowed and then paid off through our tax roll,” he said. “One thing I can say is that our taxes are not even going to go up because of this. We planned this over the last couple years, so we allowed for this in our budgeting over the last couple years already.”
City Administrator David DeTroye explained that the city had originally planned for a bigger building, but they scaled back due to cost. However, the new station will be built with the plan to add onto it in the future.
DeTroye said the city is building for the future with the new fire department, as well as with upgrades coming to the police department and city hall. In total, the city borrowed roughly $5 million for these projects.
City officials expect the new fire department to be finished by Labor Day.
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