Voters in the sprawling Boone County Fire Protection District will cast ballots Tuesday on a $6-million no tax increase bond issue.
Fire District assistant chief Gale Blomenkamp tells 939 the Eagle that every municipality and fire station across the district would benefit from passage:
“A yes vote on this bond issue in Sturgeon or Midway or Lake of the Woods or Deer Park … anywhere in our jurisdiction, gets your community something from this bond issue,” Blomenkamp says.
If voters approved the measure, the district will spend $2-million to purchase fire apparatus, $3.7-million for new radios and other firefighter equipment and $400,000 to purchase commercial personal protective gear washers and dryers at all fire stations, training centers and headquarters. Assistant chief Blomenkamp tells 939 the Eagle that there’s been a push for cancer prevention for fire services:
“Our firefighters go out there, they’re fighting fire, they’re working on the highways, they’re getting their gear contaminated. When they get back to the fire station, we have one dryer and one washer residential-style that they can use to clean that gear”
Blomenkamp says the current equipment was not designed for this. He emphasizes that passage would not increase your taxes.
Passage requires 57 percent of the vote.
