Port aldermen question firehouse planning

The Port Washington Common Council on Tuesday again held off acting on a proposed request for proposals for a new fire station and renovations to the existing firehouse with some aldermen questioning whether the city should be looking at hiring a consultant that would better define what the city needs in a new firehouse.

“I think we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Ald. Mike Gasper said. “None of us has built a fire station before. The city hasn’t built a fire station in 50 years. 

“I’d rather take a step back. I think we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.”

Hiring a firm to design a fire station to specifications developed by a local task force means “they’re going to give us everything if we need it or not,” Gasper said.

It’s more important to hire a consultant who will take a hard look at what the city really needs, he said. 

Gasper compared the situation to Ozaukee County’s when it bought a new rescue boat, saying the county wrote its own specification for the vessel but discovered later that it should have hired an expert to help determine what was needed.

“I don’t want to see us do that here,” he said.  

Gasper also noted that since the city hasn’t determined where the fire station will be located, it will be difficult to design a building.

“If we don’t have a site yet, do you really want to engage an architect?” he asked.

For the second consecutive meeting, aldermen met in closed session to discuss negotiations for “the potential transfer of sanitary sewer service area between the Village of Saukville and the City of Port Washington” that would pave the way for a new station to be built on the former Schanen farm at the corner of Highway 33 and Jackson Road.

Aldermen took no action following the closed session.

Ald. Dan Benning, a member of the fire station taskforce who wrote the request for proposals, said the intent is to clarify the potential costs and building requirements for a new station.

“We felt we had everything we needed” in determining the needs of the department, Benning said, noting the taskforce included Fire Chief Mark Mitchell, former Fire Chief Marc Eernisse and Assistant Chief Steve Schmidt and also relied on past studies of the fire department needs.

Mitchell noted that for years he tried to get the city to fund a needs study but was turned down.

“It’s up to the council if you want to spend that kind of money,” he said. 

But, Mitchell added, the consultant is going to come to him to get the information needed to make a determination of the department needs.

“I think Chief Mitchell is an honest, upright guy. He’s not going to build us what we don’t need,” Mayor Marty Becker said.

Ald. John Sigwart noted that while the taskforce has said it wants to build a station for the next 50 years, firefighting is likely to change in that time, adding it’s likely there  will be regional if not a county fire department.

Sigwart also noted that a consultant may be better able to approach the Village of Saukville to gauge interest in a joint facility.

“Maybe then we don’t need all of what we see,” he said.

Mitchell said any move toward consolidating departments will be a slow process, and the city has needs it must deal with now. 

“I don’t know how long we’re going to drag this out,” he said.

The council postponed action on the request for proposals until its Nov. 5 meeting, in large part because aldermen did not have the proposed requests in hand to review before Tuesday’s meeting.