Somers moves forward with fire hall bond
The Somers Rural Fire District board on Wednesday unanimously decided to move forward with a $4 million bond request for a new fire hall.
The board’s approval of the measure in a special meeting will put the bond request on the ballot before voters in Lakeside and Somers this summer.
According to board Chairman Bill Brass, the bond, if approved, would double the annual taxes paid for the fire department by residents of the district.
The cost for the bond breaks down to $11.98 per year for a home valued at $50,000, $23.96/year for a $100,000 home and $47.93/year for a $200,000 home, according to Brass.
Though the board is still in the process of getting an official estimate for the cost of construction for the new hall, Brass shared a preliminary estimate of approximately $3.75 million.
Renderings of the proposed two-story fire hall have been posted on a sign marking the future site of Somers Fire Department on a 5-acre property in Somers that the department purchased about four years ago.
The site sits directly south of the Mackinaw Loop subdivision and about a half-mile south of Montana 82.
Brass said a portion of the money for the new station would go toward reinforcing the ground for the construction site to deal with sub-soil issues and ensure the hall’s structural integrity.
The fire district board also voted to go forward with the bond election in July or August rather than in November, hoping for a larger voter turnout with the added presence of seasonal summer residents in the area.
At least 40 percent of the registered voters in the area — around 1,700 people — must cast their votes for the election to be valid, Brass said.
Samuel Spence, a volunteer firefighter on the department, attended the meeting as a representative for other firefighters.
He expressed concerns about the aging and deteriorating state of some of the fire equipment, stating several firefighters felt the replacement of equipment should take priority over a new fire hall.
Brass told Spence none of the money collected within the bond measure would be used to replace equipment or fire trucks, but the current funding for the department would be used to pay for those expenses as the funds became available and the need arose.
The board agreed to revisit the issue of replacing equipment at next month’s regularly scheduled board meeting.
Somers organized a fire department in 1956 and built the current fire hall in Somers in 1960.
For more information about the Somers Rural Fire District, visit https://www.somerslakesidefire.com/ or call 406-250-8225.
Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.