When it comes to fixing the northside fire station, there is bad news and good news, the City Council learned Monday.
The bad news: Repairing damage done when a fire truck struck a support beam in the building could cost as much as $175,000, and might not be completed until October.
The good news: Most of the cost of the job will be covered by insurance, and when the work is finished the station will have a new and improved facade on the side facing Eighth Street.
Fire Chief Stephen Welgat updated the council on the situation with the northside station. He said the damage to the support beam also damaged the frame of the doors on the south side of the building. A crew from MSI in Kewanee had the area boarded up within an hour and a half of the accident, Welgat said, but the doors on the south side of the building are blocked by the boards and no equipment is parked in that part of the building.
Two vehicles normally are parked there, the chief said. One has been moved the main fire station on East Third Street, and the other to a city-owned facility on Commercial Street.
The repair work, with an estimated cost of $175,000, will create a stronger structure that should be able to withstand a collision like the one that occurred, Welgat said. The job will also include a new masonry veneer on the entire south side of the building.
Bids for the job are to be opened at the council’s July 22 meeting.
Welgat had one piece of good news for the council: The damage to the aerial ladder truck that struck the support beam was so slight that it cost only $12 to repair it.
Also Monday:
— Adam Sovanski was sworn in as Kewanee’s newest police officer. Sovanski has been a Henry County Sherif’s deputy for the past 6 1/2 years. He had been the drone operator and accident investigator for the sheriff’s department.
— The council accepted the bid of $3,001 from Cerno Properties for a small section of the city parking lot at 309 N. Main St. Cerno Properties, which operates the Coco’s coffee shop at Third and Main streets, had already purchased most of the lot behind that building; this purchase means the company owns the entire lot up to the building at 315 N. Main St.
— A short section of West Fourth Street east of May Street, and an alley between Third and Fourth streets, were vacated by the council. The action enables the owners of adjoining property — in this case, the Kewanee School District — to use the land covered by the street and alley.
The school district has used the area for several years as the practice field for the high school soccer team.
— The council accepted the bid of Bock’s Equipment and Repair of Galva for seven mowers for the cemetery and parks department, for a total of $58,999. The purchase will be paid for with a loan from the State Bank of Toulon.
