County sales tax funds squirreled away by Hennessey’s Fire Department for a “big project” will be used to expand the fire station.

The estimated $1-million project will make room for a ladder truck, include a decontamination shower for volunteer firefighters, and a helicopter pad east of the station to transfer emergency patients.

Firefighters have kept some of their county sales tax money for more than 13 years to fund such a project, but have also purchased and replaced several trucks, brush pumpers and a pumper and rescue truck, plus bunker gear and training.

The addition is needed because there isn’t enough room for a ladder truck, and they couldn’t get one through the existing bay doors.

They’ve been working with AIP architects on a contingency basis, and have been making changes along the way, Assistant Fire Chief James Matousek told town board members at members at their Wednesday night meeting.

Matousek, who is also the town’s fire marshal, said they hadn’t come up with their plan overnight. “We’ve thought about this for years,” he said, as he walked the board through the architect’s drawing, on a large touch screen board.

He said they’d even looked to buy nearby property, but that didn’t work out, and, “We think this will be the best for the town.”

The expansion doesn’t include a ladder truck, yet, said Matousek. That’s on down the line and the estimated cost is about $800,000, he said.

County Funds Make Expansion Possible

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the county sales tax funds,” Matousek said from the audience.

Mayor Bert Gritz, who is also the fire chief, agreed from his seat at the board table. He said their plan wouldn’t be possible without the help from county taxpayers.

The volunteer fire department has about $2 million in its county sales tax fund, Gritz said.

The exact amount in those funds is $1,900,818.92. There is $843,609.67 in the half-cent county tax, and $1,057,209.25 in the quarter-cent fund, County Clerk Jeannie Boevers told the Times & Free Press Thursday.

Matousek said they have also requested about $300,000 from the county’s American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

The eight county fire departments share in 13% of the county’s 1.25% sales tax based on mileage served. Hennessey serves the most: 325 miles, said Gritz.

County voters also approved a quarter-cent sales tax that went into effect in April, 2008, that was divided equally between the eight fire departments until voters changed that in 2017. Those funds now go to pay for the new county jail.

Town Commits to Land Use and More

He was at the meeting to get permission to use town property for the expansion, and said he’d go before County Commissioners Monday morning to approve use of the fire department’s county funds.

The town board granted use of the property in a 4-0 vote by Mayor Bert Gritz, Vice Mayor Clif Vogt, and Trustees Richard Simunek and Harold Shaw. Their approval includes the placement of a wooden privacy fence around the helicopter pad. The town will also take care of a drainage issue on the northeast corner of the Main St. fire station.

Gritz, who is also the fire chief, said a privacy fence is needed because they’ve had too many people come to look through the chain-link fence to see patients while they are in transport into the rescue helicopter. He said they need to keep that private for the patients, and “people just don’t need to see those things.”

Gritz said they want a ladder truck due to more two and three-story structures now, and for future buildings. He mentioned the school’s Dome on Oklahoma Avenue and the hotel on Main Street.

Property Insurance Rates Low

The expansion will help keep the town’s low ISO (Insurance Services Office) score low, said Matousek.

That means continued lower homeowners’ fire insurance rates, said Gritz, who is proud of their ISO rating of a three with one being the best of a 1-10 score that determines how wellequipped a fire department is to put out a fire.

Matousek said he thought the only way they could get a two rating is with a full-time fire department.

Trustee Simunek said he’d called ISO and they were familiar and complimentary of Matouek and Gritz and their efforts to keep Hennessey’s low rating.

Matousek and Gritz each have more than 30 years of experience as volunteer firefighters in Hennessey.

Gritz said in the early years he and Matousek would get under the old rural fire trucks to change the oil so they could save money.

Firefighters still do lots of work around the firehouse, and they also have a yearly open house and fund-raiser BBQ to help fund needs not covered by the town’s budget for that department.

At the Meeting

In addition to Matousek and the four board members, also present at the meeting were these town staffers: Administrator Tiffany Tillman, Clerk Kati Walters, Treasurer Shelley Burch and Police Chief Ed Cangiano.

A visitor in the audience was town trustee candidate David Jones.

Tillman said the only other candidate, Frank Patton, had called to say he wouldn’t be there because of the meeting date change.

The board usually meets the second Thursday of the month, but changed it to a Wednesday this month. Jones and Patton were the only candidates to file for the vacant board seat left after Keith Meek’s resignation a few months ago.

See related filing story on Page 1.

In earlier meetings Scott Hajek had said he planned to file, but didn’t.