Plans for new fire station move forward
Progress was made on details for the new fire station at the March 16 Holyoke City Council meeting.
The fire station is planned to be built at the southwest corner of the intersection of West Denver Street and South Belford Avenue.
Council member Gene Bittner was praised for all of the preliminary layout work he completed, and City Superintendent Mark Brown pointed out that he really got the ball rolling on the project.
Mayor Orville Tonsing told council members the time had come to make some decisions about the fire station and proceed.
“I have made a list of things I think we need to decide this evening, so I would like your full participation,” he said.
He noted that he had been in contact with two people who had turned in bids, and they were both willing to be the general contractor for the project. Tonsing added that with the price of both steel and concrete increasing, anyone who had already submitted bids would likely want to redo them.
The council voted unanimously to open the project up for bids and go with a general contractor rather than piecemeal it together with several bids for different portions of the project.
Council members discussed the height of the fire station’s bay doors. Tonsing said they needed to decide between 14-foot doors and 16-foot doors and whether or not to make all six doors the same height. The original plan called for 14-foot doors.
Bittner expressed concern about the possibility of having all six doors the same height because of the height of the building in the corners, and he said he thought it would be better to have two 16-foot doors in the center and two 14-foot doors on either side. Tonsing said he thought they should all be 16 feet tall, and the two contractors he spoke to said it was possible to do so.
Council member Brian Akey asked what members of the fire department preferred. Holyoke volunteer fire chief Stacy Rueter, who was present at the meeting, said keeping the doors the same height would mean they wouldn’t have to park certain trucks only in certain bays. The council decided to have all doors the same height at 16 feet.
Discussion then moved to the thickness of the steel for the building and whether it should be 24 gauge or 26 gauge. Tonsing said that in looking at the specifications, the only difference is the wind load, which is about 100 mph for 26 gauge and 115 mph four 24 gauge.
The consensus was to select 26 gauge steel, but they may also look at bids for 24 gauge and weigh the differences. Additionally, no firm decision was made regarding the type of insulation to use in the building.
White with forest green trim was chosen for the building’s color. Brown pointed out that the light poles are forest green and the water tower is trimmed in forest green, so this would maintain consistency.
Council members also discussed where the water was going to enter the building and how high to build it above street level. Brown said water should enter along the north side of the building, preferably as far east as possible. He said the water main angles underneath the curb into the highway as it moves west, which would make it challenging in that direction.
Brown also recommended building the floor a minimum of 6-8 inches above the curb, as he has seen the water get deep in that area. The council agreed the elevation above street level should be at least 6-8 inches.
Council members chose to have forced air heating and air conditioning in the office area of the building, given that the space could possibly be used for public functions.
Tonsing asked Rueter to work with the building committee and get a floor plan together for the kitchen, indicating where to put drains and water lines.
Given that council members had voted to go with a general contractor to oversee the operation, it was the consensus of the council to have bids for the building as a complete turnkey project, but this can be reevaluated if necessary.
Council supports potential county sludge resolution
The council voted to support a draft of a proposed county resolution that would put a five-year moratorium on the importing of sludge from outside Phillips County to be used on cropland or rangeland within the county.
The proposed resolution was also shared with the Town of Haxtun and the Town of Paoli, with a final decision expected to be made by county commissioners after feedback is received from all three municipalities.
The draft indicates that a moratorium would allow more time to study and evaluate this type of land application of sludge and to monitor applications that are occurring in other Colorado counties.
Firetruck driven to Holyoke
Rueter and volunteer firemen Gabe Hubbard, Spencer Kotch and Ed Race traveled to Del Norte to pick up the firetruck purchased at the Sept. 21 special meeting of the city council.
They drove the firetruck back to Holyoke on March 6, and the council voted to reimburse them for their expenses. Originally, it was going to cost $500 to have it driven to Colorado Springs by members of the Del Norte Fire Department to be picked up by Holyoke volunteer firemen.
Council hears reports
Brown reported that a goose clipped the power line near the intersection of East Johnson Street and County Road 41 at 5 a.m. on Saturday, March 13, causing a power outage affecting Holyoke Mobile Home Park, the airport and the cemetery. Two fuses were replaced, and power was quickly restored.
He informed council members that there had been some wind damage to the roof of the old power plant building in the 100 block of North Baxter Avenue. A claim was filed, and total repairs are estimated to be about $6,000.
Brown reported that chemicals needed for the conversion of city wells from chlorine gas disinfection to a liquid chlorine disinfectant solution have arrived. He said he expected some of the pumps and piping to arrive the first part of this week. Crews are working diligently to have the conversion complete by Wednesday, March 31, to remain compliant with state requirements.
On Saturday, March 13, city personnel started the pumps in the pit on Highway 385 near Cobblestone Inn & Suites. The pit was filling with water from the rainstorm. Brown reported that the smaller pump failed, and crews have begun working to repair it.
Brown said he received the second draft of the airport master plan from Armstrong Consultants. He also reported that a semi-load of jet fuel had been delivered to the airport.
City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson said Scott Szabo of Lauer, Szabo & Associates, PC was in Holyoke and expected to finish the in-house work for the city’s 2020 audit March 17.
Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 56 calls for service from March 2-10, including two animal complaints and four municipal code violations under code enforcement.
Other business
In other business at the March 16 meeting, council members:
— Approved a travel request for Bergstrom to attend the Colorado Association of Chiefs conference in Keystone at the cost of $1,080, including the conference, lodging and meals.
— Approved a travel request for Commander JR Myers to attend pursuit intervention technique instructor school in Grand Junction at the cost of $842, including the school, lodging and meals.
— Approved a travel request for Officer Wyatt Bishop to attend Krav Maga instructor school in Littleton at the cost of $1,838, including the school, lodging and meals.