Council to consider new fire and police stations

By Jessica Kalin

The city of DeKalb plans to spend about $43 million on upcoming construction projects that are set to begin in the 2005 fiscal year.

The DeKalb City Council will meet Monday to discuss upcoming projects for the 2005 to 2009 fiscal years. The meeting will discuss plans for the allocation of $42.9 million.

Linda Wiggins, administrative services director, said the city was looking to build a new 48,000-square-foot police station at an estimated cost of $16 million. The location and date of the proposed police station is undetermined.

Also, the city will possibly construct a new fire station because of the significant growth both stations have seen in recent years. Old equipment also needs to be replaced.

The remodeling of the existing Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St., will be discussed with a $3 million estimated cost, as will street, sidewalk and building improvements.

Meeting the goal of the nearly $43 million projected cost for all projects is not feasible within the next four-and-a-half years, Wiggins said.

Wiggins stressed that the cost was strictly capital and that $400,000 will be set aside for a federal-mandated improvement to the city water system. This is designed to protect the water from any criminal or terrorist attack.

Construction on Annie Glidden Road will cost an estimated $12 million, with $10 million coming withe the help of U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office.

The city council will create an all-inclusive list of projects and will prioritize all construction and improvement projects during the city council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the DeKalb Municipal Building.