Voters in Harrisburg are considering a 20-year bond to raise $ 4.2 million for a new fire station. The measure would cost the average home-owner 88 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value annually.
The current fire station was built 50 years ago. The 75-hundred square foot building has only one bathroom and no live-in quarters. Harrisburg Fire Chief John Goucher says there's not enough space for equipment to be stored inside.
Goucher: "It's just too small. It's on a very small lot. There's no room on the lot to do training or anything. That's the old station. The new station, if the bond passes, would be 16,500 feet, so it would be over double the size. It would allow us room for all of our apparatus to be inside and leave us a space for expansion in the future."
The new station would include live-in quarters for volunteer firefighters to allow for faster response to emergency calls. The new building would also have a community room which could serve as a "safe haven" in the event of a disaster. This is the third try to get voters to approve funds for new fire station in Harrisburg. Election Day is May 20th.
