(Estherville)– The Estherville City Council voted Monday evening to proceed with a proposal to house the city’s police and fire departments in one facility.
As we reported previously, the city council recently finalized the purchase of a building on Murray Road to relocate the fire department. A space study that has since been done on the facility shows there’s sufficient room to house both departments, with a shared space for training. Police Chief Brent Shatto told the council Monday evening he and Fire Chief Travis Sheridan have already had discussions and will be meeting again soon to review layout plans…
Councilman Tim Ahrens, however, expressed some trepidation about having the Police Department in a joint facility…
City Administrator Penny Clayton told the council a joint public safety facility would save the city an estimated $35,000 a year on insurance, maintenance, and other costs.
She added the current building the city recently purchased, remodeled and relocated the Police Department to would then be sold, with those proceeds going into the city’s general fund. She said that could help soften any reductions in revenue as the result of any changes by the state to the property tax system.
