The Emporia Fire Department is one step closer to having new facilities at both its locations.
Emporia City Commissioners approved the contract for the fire station projects from Crossland Construction as part of their action meeting on Wednesday. Emporia Fire Chief Brandon Beck says the approval of the Crossland contract is just a step towards new and updated facilities.
Beck says the next phase is preconstruction and design which will then determine what the cost will be for commissioners to approve at an action meeting in the near future. Beck says the outcome will be the maximum guarantee price that will be presented to commissioners. City Commissioner Erren Harter says there’s still more to be brought to the commissioners contract-wise. Harter says it’ll be great to see when the work starts on both facilities.
Harter says by the time the project is done and someone new to EFD wants to work for them, they’ll have the nice new equipment and facilities to work with. After their action meeting, City Commissioners went into their study meeting where they heard a presentation for the potential of new or renovated facilities from the Emporia Rec Commission.
Emporia Recreation Commission Board Chair Jeremy Dorsey says the discussion with City Commissioners was a good step in the right direction for what comes next.
Dorsey says he would like to see more input from not just Emporians who utilize the current facility, but others who don’t live in Emporia that visit the facility. City Commissioner Danny Giefer agrees with Dorsey on input and says they need to address those matters all-around.
Giefer says he’s excited for what the next step is for what’s next in the process of renovation or building a new facility.
The next steps include ERC hiring an architect for renderings through an RFQ process. Using community stakeholders, community partners, ERC, City of Emporia and USD 253 representatives to form a Steering Committee to guide the chosen architectural firm. Use Celebrate ERC Committee along with other interested patrons, to develop a “Vote Yes” campaign team.
Commissioners will bring the topic back up with Lyon County Commissioners during their next meeting on December 6.
In other action business, Commissioners voted to approve an ordinance for rezoning properties located at 513 & 519 Congress St. from Single-Family Attached To Flex-Use High. Commissioners also approved an ordinance authorizing and providing for the issuance of General Obligation Bonds Series 2023 and approved a resolution authorizing and directing the sale and delivery of general obligations bonds.
Along with the Emporia Recreation Commission’s presentation in the study meeting, City Commissioners discussed the process of ERP to enter negotiations with Tyler Technologies for new software for Financial, Payroll and Utility Blly modules. Commissioners also heard from Community Development Coordinator Jeff Lynch on the future of transforming Quaker Park into a possible housing development.
The Emporia City Commission will convene for its next regular action and study meetings on Wednesday, December 6 at 11 a.m. in the Municipal Court Room at White Auditorium.
