A new fire station could be coming to Bay City, just as city commissioners announced the layoffs of six firefighters last week.
The city will be reduced to about 38 firefighters when the layoffs take effect, however some city administrators said a consolidated department could be the best way to use that smaller number.
“If we are approved for this grant, we need to be as prepared as possible to move forward,” said City Commissioner Marie Kurzer.
Bay City Fire Chief Greg Michalek asked the Commission for $3,301,932 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a new fire station that would house two fire crews. Mayor Charles Brunner told NBC25 the city would only pay $160,000 for the project. The total cost is reported to be more than $200 million.
As residents took in the idea of a new fire station, many feel more could have been done to save those six jobs.
“I don’t think that you’ve done a thorough job of doing all the things that could have been done to avoid the layoff of six firefighters,” said one man. “I don’t see any reason for it.”
Bay City will be reduced to three fully operative stations. Station #5 will move into periodic shutdowns. One city report said the new station should keep response time under five minutes. Some commissioners just want to know more.
“I would really like as much information to come forward to this commission as possible,” Kurzer said.
The Bay City Commission gave the approval for the city manager to submit the grant request. FEMA would have to approve the grant before any construction would take place. The layoffs will go into effect on July 13 according to Kurt Wagner, president of the Bay City firefighters union.
