Fire Chief, Architect Busy Planning Two New Stations Post Falls Voters Narrowly Approve $2 Million Bond Levy
Construction planning got under way just hours after voters narrowly approved two new fire stations here in Tuesday’s primary election.
Post Falls Fire District’s $2 million bond levy received 68.2 percent approval, with 66.6 percent needed for the 10-year bond to pass.
“It feels great,” Chief Lynn Borders said Wednesday. “We’re real pleased. … Overall, it was pretty nip and tuck.”
By Wednesday morning, Borders was on the phone with the architect. If plans go as expected, the stations’ shells will be built by the end of December and the buildings will be completed next spring, Borders said.
More than 3,600 people voted in the primary in Post Falls. Borders said he appreciated the turnout.
“One of the things I wanted - and our commissioners wanted - was that we had good representation at the polls to make this decision,” he said. “It’s a huge fiscal responsibility.”
Each property owner will be assessed a tax of 26 cents per $1,000 of his or her home’s market value.
The new fire stations are expected to lower residents’ insurance premiums by about $40 a year. That’s because insurance companies’ fire safety ratings for Post Falls should improve with more firefighters and stations.
Growth and expansion will be a long-term project for the district, said Tim Bradley, president of the Post Falls Volunteer Firefighter Association. It’s important the district keep the public informed about its progress, he said.
“We want to give people what they paid for, and we need to do that,” Bradley said.
The two sites, one at 16th Avenue and state Highway 41 and the other at Pleasant View Road and Seltice Way, were donated to the district specifically for fire stations.
To save money, both stations will be designed by the same architect and constructed the same way. The district also is lining up volunteers to help with construction, Bradley said.
The stations will include a community room for public use.
The bond measure also will finance growth in the district’s volunteer program.