Some Taylor Mill residents complain to Taylor Mill city commission about new firehouse plans

By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter

Several residents of Taylor Mill attended the regular meeting of city commission Wednesday night to complain to commissioners about building a new firehouse.

Judi Reis, who lives on Robertson, asked them how they got the word out to the public that there would be a public hearing about the firehouse. She told them she went door to door, and said most of the people didn’t know about the public hearing. Reis said she thought she would take a survey of the people she talked to, and she collected 208 signatures of people that she encountered in her door to door quest.

The result of her survey was that 12 people were in favor of a new firehouse, 13 were undecided, and 183 did not want a new firehouse.

“If you’re really working for the citizens of Taylor Mill, this should be a more public conversation,” she challenged. “You should set up another public meeting at a day and time when most people can attend.”

Another resident, Mike Busse said he didn’t think repair of the current firehouse was brought up, which was untrue, and he said he thought they could add living quarters onto the current firehouse. He also said he thought fire apparatus should be bought before spending money on a firehouse.

Jeff Groneck asked how many bedrooms the new firehouse is scheduled to have, and City Administrator Brian Haney said that hasn’t been decided yet. Groneck said they should base it on real numbers of how many firefighters they have working at night.

Mike Blackburn started out saying he is not against a new firehouse, but he thought they should spend their money wisely, and he thought the city should start with a clean slate.

Roger Reis thought the commissioners should re-evaluate and reconsider their decision.

Maddianina Alicia thought the city should pay firefighters and police more, even though, as Mayor Daniel Bell pointed out, they did receive a 70 percent raise last year.

Commissioner Mark Kreimborg said these were all great comments and suggested that the city step back from their decision on the firehouse. He made a motion to rescind the decision to build a new firehouse and get accurate figures.

Commissioner Dan Murray balked at that, because he said the city had decided to find out how much it would cost to build new versus rehabbing what they have. He wanted prices nailed down before a final decision was made. He voted down Kreimborg’s motion and a roar of disapproval went up from the disgruntled audience.

Mayor Bell threatened to adjourn the meeting if they didn’t calm down. When he achieved a moderate degree of calmness, he thanked them for their patience and silence.

“This is not a done deal,” Commissioner Murray said. “We want to know where we stand, and what we can get with our dollars.”

The city focused on doing something about the abysmal condition of the present firehouse at the end of August last year, and all during the month of September. At those meetings fixing the old building was discussed as was building new. The public hearing was in September, and the time was moved to the evening so more people could attend. About three dozen people came, although only about 11 people spoke.

Fire Chief John Stager was hired in 2010, and was told at the time that the city was probably going to build a whole new building with a new fire department in 2012. Stager was very happy, knowing a new building would help tremendously with recruitment.

However, the building never materialized, due to concerns about spending money. The current firehouse was built to last 50 years, according to Haney, and the city needs a building to last 50 more years since the city is growing.

CAO Haney urged everyone to sign up for the city newsletter, and to watch the city meetings on TBNK. He also reminded people that there is a caucus meeting at 10 am on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Haney pointed out that the website is also an excellent source of information. He felt that people could take advantage of the suggestions so they can be more informed about what decisions the commissioners they voted for are making.