Taxpayers in the Cicero Fire District voted 80-32 to approve a proposal to build a $4 million fire station. The referendum, held Nov. 18, allows the fire district to sell a 4.5-acre lot to the Cicero Fire Department to make way for the new building.
With fire district residents’ approval, the fire department will tear down Station No. 1 on Brewerton Road and construct a $4 million building to replace it. The fire district will then lease the building back from the department.
Now that the vote has gone through, Cicero Fire Commissioner Jim Perrin said “the fun stuff begins.” He said the Cicero Fire Department’s building committee will meet with its lawyer and a building architect to pare down the $5.6 million plan from earlier this year to a $4 million building.
“We’re not going over that $4 million that we promised,” Perrin said, adding that the department will do “whatever it takes” to make the necessary cuts to its original plan.
The fire department does not yet have a construction timeline for the new station.
The plan does not affect the fire district tax rate, which is set by the town of Cicero.
Voters rejected a $5.6 million building proposal back in February, which would have increased fire district taxes about $75 per year for a home assessed at $100,000. In August, a proposal to sell the 4.5-acre lot was defeated as well.
The Cicero Fire District held two public meetings to gain taxpayers’ input before the vote.
“It’s been a long process, but they voiced their concerns,” Perrin said. “We thought we brought back something that will benefit everybody.”
