Algoma council explores potential location for proposed fire/EMS station

ALGOMA – During its Nov. 6 meeting, the Algoma City Council was asked to provide direction to Bayland — who is handling the design for a fire/EMS station expansion — on a proposed site for the project.

Potential sites for the project included Fremont Street where the city hall and library are located, property at Sunset Avenue and Rabas Street and a site at Sunset and Feld Street.

Algoma City Administrator Matt Murphy said that the next step in the project was determining where the station will be located with several options on the table.

“Jim Thyes from Bayland has been up in the city of Algoma here, working on another project. And we need to try to give him direction of where we’re going to put this,” Murphy said.

Alder Wayne Schmidt said that he was not in favor of the city hall site.

“I’m not in favor of that site, simply because of the traffic pattern for Fremont Street is heavily trafficked in the morning — parents dropping off their kids in the afternoon, picking them up. If there was a way that you could basically enter and leave off of Fourth that’s one thing. So, I’m not in favor of that I’m in favor of putting it back up by the end of Feld,” Schmidt said.

“I’d be in favor of, at least exploring the opportunity to put it on site here and make it work, going out on Fourth, but I was waiting on feedback from Jim (Thyes) to see if it was even feasible if it was going to come in higher, lower, you know. It’s an option at least worth exploring,” added Alder Scott Meverden.

Alder Amy. Johnson said that she wasn’t comfortable with the station so close to a school.

“And again, tonight there’s a concert, so then you’re dealing with all that,” she said.

“The traffic patterns, and even though it would be entering and coming in on Fourth Street, I thought there was still something that could possibly be coming off Fremont. So, I don’t think that’s very safe, so I’m not comfortable with going further with this being a spot and looking into it. I was at first but now I backed off of that. So, I would go back up to the Rabas Street (property.)

Alder Lee Dachelet agreed with Johnson but said that Fremont Street would likely still need to be accessed if there was a call.

Alder Kevin Schmidt said that annexing it to the library would be more expensive than straight construction, but that multiple design concepts could be utilized if attached to the city hall/library site.

“If it’s strictly on cost, then Rabas Street is probably the cheapest,” he said.
The council unanimously voted to look into the lot on the end of Rabas Street and Sunset Avenue for future expansion of the station.

Wastewater Utility rates to increase

The council also unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance to amend the city’s wastewater utility rates section of the municipal code.

If approved following its second reading, rates will see an annual increase of 3%.

“It is imperative for the effective and efficient management of the City of Algoma Wastewater Utility that rates be regularly adjusted in order for the Wastewater Utility to pay for itself through its sewer user fees; and in the past the sewer user charges collected were insufficient to support the operation and maintenance of the Wastewater Utility, thus requiring that additional funds be provided by the City of Algoma General Fund to meet utility expenses,” the ordinance amendment stated.