Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder said he envisioned ground being broken for three new stations for the Springfield Fire Department after city council members kept the allocation for their construction at $10 million at Tuesday’s special budget meeting.
The 16 amendments to the corporate fund budget and City Water, Light and Power budget that passed added a net gain of $1.25 million, according to budget director William McCarty.
Only Springfield Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin voted against the FY23 budget.
A $6.2 million appropriation for the purchase of seven new pieces of equipment for the SFD passed with no discussion.
Council members rejected by a 9-1 vote an amendment that would have proposed the construction of two firehouses.
McMenamin, the sponsor of that amendment, had earlier said he wanted to take all of the money appropriated for construction out of the corporate fund budget. Tuesday’s refigured amendment would have kept $3 million in the corporate fund budget along with $4 million in American Relief Plan Act funds.
‘A bold move’
The approval for the appropriation for six fire engines and a firetruck Tuesday, said Fire Chief Brandon Blough, “wasn’t surprising but it sure was satisfying and affirming.”
The equipment issue engendered a lot of discussion over the last several weeks, though it wasn’t originally in the budget.
With one engine and one firetruck still not arrived from the FY22 budget, the fire department will have nine new rigs within the next year. It addresses a major problem: 13 of the rigs are 15 years or older, with eight of them 20 years or older. Industry “best practices,” a report on the department issued by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Safety Management, LLC, suggest equipment should be replaced after 15 years.
Plans call for Station 6 to move from 2156 S. Ninth St. to 11th and Ash streets, the site of the former Honeywell-Hobbs. Station 8, now situated at 2051 W. Monroe St., would move to Lawrence Avenue, just west of Veterans Parkway, near a Dollar General store.
A 13th station would be slotted for property the city owns right off of Woodside Road, Langfelder said.
While professing support for the fire department, Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley said she would like to see a working group put together later in the year to give people “a clear picture of where these stations are going to go and how it impacts the neighborhoods. People are concerned about response times.”
Earlier, the council earmarked $750,000 for SFD personnel overtime. The last several years, said amendment sponsor Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer, the council has underfunded overtime for the SFD.
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Re-vote
Council members ended up taking a re-vote on an amendment that would have shifted funds used by the city’s marketing director from the corporate fund in the mayor’s office to the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau Fund 21, the tourism fund.
The idea was to lighten the financial burden of the corporate fund, although SCVB executive director Scott Dahl spoke against it.
The first vote shifted half of the $160,000 funding to the SCVB, but McMenamin, near the end of the meeting, questioned Williams and Gregory about their votes.
Several alderpersons had to seek clarification on the issue even while they were voting.
In the end, a re-vote kept it in the mayor’s office.
Other votes
* An effort by McMenamin to add $1 million payments to reduce police and fire pension obligations failed.
“We’re just going deeper into debt on the pension liabilities and it’s irresponsible,” McMenamin said. “I hope we have a better result next year.”
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 