The Jefferson City Fire Department is hoping for the best out of the 2016 budget process, looking to address at least a few of the needs at several of its oldest stations.
The City Council is continuing its work on the draft 2016 budget, which, as it stands now, includes a roughly $37,000 increase for fire station repairs, a portion of the $95,000 originally requested. However, the increase included in the current draft would bring the amount for fire station repairs up to $97,000, as $60,000 is budgeted annually for that purpose.
But Fire Chief Matt Schofield said that base $60,000 typically is spent quickly throughout the year on equipment that breaks down unexpectedly or a sudden roof leak.
"Typically that's pretty much consumed with just day-to-day routine maintenance," Schofield said.
If the final 2016 budget does include the $37,000 increase, Schofield said, the funds would be used to help address some of the immediate needs at fire stations, which a facility review characterizes as needing $160,000 to address.
"There are some things that we know have to be done," Schofield said.
The most immediate need to be addressed with any additional funds would be upgrading to efficiency lighting in all stations, though Schofield noted it's really more of a replacement. The current lighting in a majority of the stations uses a type of fluorescent bulb that is no longer made. Schofield said the last time the department ordered bulbs, they were told they were receiving the final box that could be found nationwide, which also makes the product more expensive.
On the plus side, he said, moving to different lighting could result in utility savings down the line and possibly some credits from Ameren to help cover costs.
"We're looking for creative ways to address some of these," Schofield said. "It's not necessarily the thing we want to do first, but probably have to."
According to the facility review, upgrading the lighting in stations 1, 2, 4 and 5 would cost $27,100.
With any funds left over, Schofield said, the department would turn to the "hard infrastructure" needs, specifically looking to address issues with concrete settling at station No. 4.
"If we don't get on that pretty quickly, the damage could become much greater," Schofield said.
The infrastructure issues are a result of a number of outdated stations. Though the city opened a brand new station last year that replaced the old station No. 3 on Industrial Drive, which opened in 1967, several other fire stations are nearing 50 years old and are showing signs of wear. At some point, the city likely will have to look at replacing more stations as repair costs pile up.
"There's probably a break over point in a lot of these facilities, between trying to fix what's there and then looking at the whole package and saying that at some point we may need to start over," Schofield said. "There's some things we know we have to band-aid up in the short run, but maybe the public is better served by at least exploring the options of rebuilding and repurposing some of those buildings."
And that process could include evaluating the current location of stations. As the city has grown, some stations would be better placed in other locations, Schofield said, to improve response time to various parts of the city.
"The investment in infrastructure pays dividends to the community," Schofield said. "We want to deliver the highest level of service, and our equipment and facilities support that."