By Jeremy Weldon

Last week’s fire on Van Voris Ave. was a perfect example of why the City of Batesville needs a new fire station on its western side, Public Works Director David Karr told the Mayor and Board of Aldermen at its Tuesday meeting.

Karr said the fire, which was called in about 6:30 a.m. would have likely destroyed a whole row of storefronts had the building not been constructed with firewalls. Firefighters responded to the fire with trucks from Station No. 2 on Woodland Dr. behind Sonic Drive-In and were several minutes arriving because of traffic and the distance.

Fire Chief Tim Taylor has long lobbied city officials for a new fire station to serve west Batesville, the area of the city where most calls originate. That portion of Batesville has many of the city’s oldest houses, some with outdated wiring and other fire hazards.

The main fire station on College Dr. behind City Hall is not staffed with full-time firemen because there are no housing facilities at the location. Taylor said depending on the time of day when volunteers may be working other jobs away from the area, paid firefighters from the other two stations (No. 3 is located in the Harmon Industrial Park) cover the east side of the city.

The Mayor and Board of Aldermen have agreed with Taylor for years that a new facility is needed but have been reluctant to borrow the money necessary for the construction. This week, though, officials met for a work session and settled, tentatively, on a plan to issue about $8 million in general obligation bonds for a series of capital improvement projects.

The board was pushed to decision to borrow $8 when The Concourse project gained momentum and the city’s part of the project – purchasing the Outlet Mall property for $2.6 million – became pressing. It was then the board begin to seriously consider Karr’s recommendation to issue the bonds to cover the mall purchase and build a new municipal complex.

Officials have agreed, in principle, to spend approximately $4 million to build a municipal complex on city-owned property on Van Voris, in the block behind Smith Cleaners. The majority of that $4 million costs would go to the construction of a new fire station to cover east Batesville and also include a new City Hall and administrative offices for different departments.

To issue general obligation bonds, the city has some legal requirements to meet that will advise residents and taxpayers of the details. To raise $8 million, the city would have to add five mils to its current 30 mils collected from property owners to fund city services.

Property owners can expect an increase of about $80 per $100,000 of assessed value (not market value) of their land, homes, or businesses. Because a bond issue is a tax levy, the city will also hold a public hearing and must put the matter to a citywide vote if presented a petition with ten percent of Batesville’s registered voters asking for an up-or-down referendum.

At this week’s meeting, Karr said city growth has become stagnant in recent years and reminded board members the last public building project undertaken by the city was  in 1984 when Station No. 2 was built, although that facility has undergone renovation and addition since then.

The newer fire station in the Industrial Park was financed by LS Power when that industry located here, Karr said. “It’s time to do some things that we’ve needed for a long time and for whatever reason we haven’t done them.”

The board of aldermen is expected to move forward with the bond issue at its next meeting June 18.