Voters reject proposal to expand St. James fire buildings

Voters have rejected an $8.75 million bond to expand two buildings in the St. James Fire District.

There were 457 'no' votes to 96 votes for the bond, said Commissioner Joseph H. Kuethen Wednesday.

"I'm very disappointed," said Kuethen of Tuesday's vote. "I wish as many people took the time to come up to the bond hearing to understand why we wanted to do what we wanted to do as the number of people who came to vote," he said, adding that only a dozen people attended the bond hearing.

Before the vote, some residents said they thought the additions were either unnecessary or wasteful.

The proposed bond would have required homeowners to pay $37 more for every $1,000 of assessed value on their property annually for 19 years, Kuethen said. Homeowners would see the fire district portion of their property taxes rise $80 to $200 each year, he said.

The district's Board of Fire Commissioners said in an October letter that the last addition to a district building was in 1978, and that since then, the fire apparatus has grown "dramatically."

The project entailed an 11,342-square-foot expansion at Station 2 on Jefferson Avenue and a 6,172-square-foot expansion at the district's headquarters on North Country Road.

Fire commissioners plan to hold a public meeting on Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Station 2. The board plans to "discuss what our next course of action will be, which could be anything from abandoning the whole project to presenting the project again with more information and better advertising," Kuethen said. "We welcome some public input."