93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The Columbia City Council on Monday night agreed to spend $2.25 million to buy 9.6 acres of land at Scott Blvd. and Route KK.
That will be the home of the new “Municipal Service Center South.” The city will put a new fire station, salt storage facility, water tower, and more there.
Fire Chief Randy White says it will help crews respond to fires in that area more quickly.
“It’ll give us really good coverage in the southwest, which is an area that we’ve identified as an area of concern for quite a while,” White says.
Councilman Matt Pitzer says fire response times have been a problem in his ward, often going past the target of less than four minutes.
“This is a much-needed project. The entire facility is, but especially the fire station, and I’m glad that we’re moving forward,” Pitzer says.
The new fire station should be built in the next year or two, but Chief White says he may station a crew in a pole barn on the facility until the station opens. Voters approved a capital improvement sales tax in 2015 to pay for the service center.
