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“We’ve gone from a seven-station model down to a four-station model with our fire department, and the last station on Dorothy Lane will be completed later this year,” said City Manager Mark Schwieterman. “In total, the fire department project is roughly $30 million for those new stations and the equipment.”
He added that the public safety and fire departments have been working on a fire station modernization plan for more than a decade.
“We started in the 2007-08 timeframe, and over the last several years we’ve been completing the plan of building new fire stations,” Schwieterman said. “We currently have three of the four new fire stations up and running. The fourth station is under construction, it is Station 37 … we anticipate (it) being up and running by the end of 2018.”
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The estimated $30 million cost for the project also includes some upgrades to the fire department’s training facility, which is located on Dorothy Lane and Bobby Place.
“This has actually been a consolidation process. We’ve changed both our staffing and station model. In the past we had seven operational fire stations and our staffing model was a combination of full-time and volunteer firefighters,” Schwieterman explained. “Our staffing model today is a combination of full-time and part-time firefighters that will be responding out of four stations.”
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He noted that staffing levels within the fire department have changed and recruiting firefighters is a challenging task.
“Right now, we are seeing an upswing in our full-time staffing model because it is very difficult to attract and retain part-time firefighters,” Schwieterman said. “Frankly, the market is for full-time firefighters now. So, it is very hard to get a part-time firefighter because they are filling full-time positions at other organizations.”
City leaders also are investing money toward improving operations for public safety as initial funding for a multi-million dollar plan to expand and renovate the Kettering Police Department has been approved.
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Council has slated $525,000 in initial funding to start a $6.9 million renovation to the existing police facility at the Kettering Government Center.
The project will add an additional floor that will include office space for the chief, captains and administrative staff. New HVAC and mechanical equipment is also part of the renovation plan to the facility that hasn’t had an upgrade in nearly 30 years.
Mayor Don Patterson said the community expects city leaders to make smart investments to improve facilities.
“One of the reasons that people stay here in Kettering and don’t want to leave is because we make investments to improve what we have here in the community,” he said.
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