Passage of May 2 additional income tax levy would support construction of new facility
BY TOM STEPHENS
Examiner Contributor
Records show that DeGraff has had a fire station at 117 S. Main St. since at least 1856, or five years prior to the start of the Civil War. The first organized village volunteer fire department was formed in 1880. In irony writ large, the whole thing burned flat in 1914, but the fire station was quickly rebuilt to meet the start-of-the-art standards of the time.
It’s still there, 109 years later. But the state-of-the-art designation no longer applies.
The fate of the building that currently houses the DeGraff Fire Department is directly tied to the 0.5 percent income tax levy that will appear on DeGraff ballots on May 2.
Those who work and live in DeGraff currently pay a 1 percent income tax; this additional 0.5 percent increase would be specifically earmarked for the construction and operating expenses of a new fire station for the village.
The additional income would be expected to give the village an extra $600,000 in leverage to obtain a $1.5 million bond, which would cover the costs of construction of a new station.
The village owns the land on which the DeGraff Fire Department sits, as well as the parcel immediately to the south, on which a second building was attached to the station.
The village razed the second building last month, as the structure was dilapidated, unserviceable and not worth the upkeep.
But in doing so, the demolition left the exterior of the south wall of the DeGraff Fire Station exposed to the light — and closer inspection — for the first time in many decades.
What the village found wasn’t pretty.
As the buildings were “tied-in” to one another, the south wall of the “old” section of the station now exposes three-score holes in the masonry, evidence of fire damage of some kind, crumbling bricks and mortar, boarded windows and lengthy vertical cracks in the walls, especially near the chimney, which has long been sealed and out of service.
It doesn’t end there. At the southwest corner of the building nearest the sidewalk on Main Street, there is a 6-foot trench surrounded by police tape. Deterioration of the building’s foundation can be easily seen in the trench and along the 30-odd feet that makes it way back to the “new” addition, which was built with masonry blocks well after the original brick construction.
The bricks just above the bay doors facing Main Street are also buckling, creating yet another hazard, this one directly above sidewalk on the east side of the street.
Village Administrator Ken McAlexander told the DeGraff Village Council at its last meeting that he has received bids for the repair for the both the south wall and the front facade, which totaled about $70,000 just for brickwork. Neither the Village of DeGraff nor the DeGraff Fire Department have the $70,000 to spend.
The entire north wall of the building was covered in siding a number of years ago, so the state of the brickwork underneath the siding remains a mystery, and given what was found along the south wall, one that the village is in no rush to solve.
Further complicating matters for the both village and the DFD, the bay doors of the fire station that front Main Street are not tall enough to accommodate a new fire engine, of which the DFD is in sore need and is actively seeking grants to acquire.
The backup engine, the grass truck and the tanker are the DFD vehicles in service that have egress and ingress to the station via the two front bay doors. The backup engine makes it through the front doors with but inches to spare in height, width and length.
The main engine, however, still must still park in the rear and use an alley to reach the street. As a matter of fact, this is why the new addition was built in the first place: To house what was then the “new” fire engine, model year 2007. The backup fire engine – which fits in the front – came off the line in 1991.
Failure of the May levy would put both the village and the DFD in a bind. Mayor Stephanie Orsborne has repeatedly said that the DeGraff Fire Department will be flat broke within two years. While the village has been supporting the DFD with monies when it can, it simply can’t afford to keep that stream flowing indefinitely.
The DFD generates about $25,000 in revenue each year with coverage contracts with the Village of Quincy, and Pleasant and Miami townships, as well of parts of Harrison and Unions townships. McAlexander said out of this $25,000 comes bills for gas, diesel, oxygen tanks, fans, ladders, firefighters gear, hose testing, and dozens of other routine expenses.
“Not to mention the $6,500 we had to pay for a new clutch on one of the trucks last year,” McAlexander said, shrugging his shoulders as he provided a tour of the building last week. “$25,000 doesn’t go very far.”
The Village of DeGraff is required by law, as an incorporated village, to provide police and fire protection to its residents. Should the May 2 levy fail, the village will likely have to contract with a neighboring fire department for fire coverage in DeGraff.
McAlexander said that he was cautiously optimistic that the levy would pass once word got out on how dire the current situation stands.
“The more people who know what is at stake here, the more will be all for it,” McAlexander said of the levy. “This will benefit everybody who lives here.”