St. Cloud Referendum on Ballot for New Fire Station 6

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Residents in St. Cloud will be asked to vote on a $42.5 million referendum to pay for a new fire station.

It would be built in the southwest part of the city near Tech High School, but Fire Chief Matt Love a new Fire Station 6 would give better response times throughout the city. Right now that area is served by Fire Station 5.

Love says they are anticipating going over 10,000 responses this year, a 32 percent increase in the last four years.  He says the goal is to respond in four minutes to any emergency.

Love says the referendum would cover the cost to build the station and the equipment needed.

It's all the capital stuff so this referendum covers the station, the training tower behind the station, and the big trucks anything capital.  What is not included is what we call operating expenses and that's everything from people to paper towels, anything ongoing.

Love says a new fire engine costs about $1.24 million and a new ladder truck costs over $2 million. They take over four years to build.

Once it is built, Fire Station 6 would need at least 15 people to be fully staffed.

The new fire station would also serve as a training facility.

If you approach this building from one angle it looks like a two-story single-family home with a garage, if you approach it from another angle it is a five-story high-rise building, and finally another angle looks like a business downtown.  All things that St. Cloud fire fighters would interact with.

If the referendum passes, an average home in St. Cloud with a value of $235,000 would have a property tax increase of about $9 per month.

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If the referendum passes in November, the city could start building it in 2026 with an opening date in late 2027.

St. Cloud's oldest fire station is Station 1 in the downtown which was built in 1989.

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