Libertyville fire station moving to Roto Fab

LIBERTYVILLE ? The Libertyville City Council Tuesday unanimously approved the $240,000 purchase of the Roto Fab building from Hickenbottom Inc. to become the new home of the Libertyville Fire Department.

The closing on the transaction will take place on or before June 1, and the fire department will move into the facility at 500 N. Main St. with few alterations to the site. The current building is located next to city hall a few blocks south on Main Street.

?I?d like to see them move into it and get settled first,? said councilman Rod Nelson.

Engineer Jim Warner presented the council with a few different plans to remodel the building for fire department use, but added the fire trucks could be parked inside with the two existing overhead doors.

?I think we?ll be working out of it for a while before we do anything,? said Fire Chief Josh Tarrence.

Warner?s plans detailed the remodeling that would include a kitchen, a couple of offices and a handicapped accessible restroom. Additional overhead doors on the west side of the building also were proposed.

The council also approved financing through Libertyville Savings Bank with a fixed loan rate of 3.25 percent for 10 years. The loan would be extended another 10 years based on the prime rate at that time. The council discussed the potential for rural development loans to pay for building improvements.

?We?ll need to see where we?re at with ADA [American Disabilities Act] before we select a remodeling plan,? said Tarrence.

The council?s building committee along with fire department representatives and Warner planned to discuss the improvements.

Nelson said a lower priority improvement would be the pouring of a 40-foot concrete apron extended from the main entrance.

In other news, the council dealt with a couple of water issues. Funding prospects for a new city water tower were discussed and the council reacted to water rate increase imposed by the city of Fairfield that will take effect July 1.

Water tower replacement talk started in 2010 because the city?s ?standpipe? design is not efficient and the city ?struggles to maintain water pressure,? said Nelson.

Warner said the city has until Nov. 1 to apply for a Community Development Block Grant for the project. The city would need at least 51 percent of a minimum of 80 percent of the city residents to return surveys and qualify as low- to middle-income households to be eligible for the grant.

The water rate increase affects the rate charged to Libertyville for its water supply received from Fairfield. The increase would take the base rate from $47 per the first 1,000 gallons to $50. Increments for additional usage would be figured at a 2 percent increase.

?We?re at their mercy,? said councilman Tom Atwood. ?It?s a take it or leave it thing.?

Nelson told the council the city?s only other option for a water supplier, Rathbun Rural Water Association, ?did not have the funding or ability to supply us with water at this point.?

?Let?s go ahead and contact Rathbun to see if it?s an option,? said Nelson, ?and we have until July 1 before this [the Fairfield increase] is arbitrarily enacted.?