Huntley fire district plans for administration building expansion, new station

In the past eight years, Huntley Fire Protection District Chief Scott Ravagnie said the district has saved about $14 million for expansion projects to compensate for expected growth.

Part of this growth was an estimated 3 percent increase in call volume from 2017 to 2018.

To handle this, the district is planning to build a 10,000-square-foot fire station adjacent to Sun City and a 27,800-square-foot, two-story addition to its current administrative building and maintenance facility at 11118 E. Main St.

Conceptual reviews from both projects were presented during the Village Board’s Jan. 24 meeting.

Ravagnie commended the district’s board for its fiscal responsibility in this matter, which will prevent the need for a referendum for any tax-based revenue request. The goal is to cap the project’s cost at $14 million, he said.

Ravagnie said about 35 percent to 40 percent of calls the fire district responds to every month are from Sun City. If there were a fifth fire station adjacent to the 55-and-older neighborhood, it could have taken about 700 of the estimated 5,300 calls the district received in 2018, Ravagnie said.

And with few straight roads cutting through the neighborhood, response times are slightly longer, Huntley Deputy Fire Chief Al Schlick said.

The proposed station would be on a 2.23-acre site on the southeast corner of Jim Dhamer Drive and Hennig Road.

“A three-person team stationed at the new site is what we’ll start off with,” Ravagnie said.

There are no plans to hire new crew members at this time, as the district will have enough staff to effectively operate all stations, he added. Eighteen to 22 employees are on duty on any given day.

During the Jan. 24 meeting, board member Harry Leopold said plans for the building looked stark and requested that it look more pleasing because the proposed building is in close proximity to residential housing.

Huntley Fire Station 1, 11808 Coral St., has been downtown since 1958, Ravagnie said. Since that time, the station has had several modifications – including kitchen updates and added office space – but the overall integrity of the building is strong, Ravagnie said.

He said delivery trucks, garbage trucks and other traffic downtown make it difficult for Station 1 crews to respond to emergencies. Schlick said delivery trucks can stop ambulances from traveling certain directions downtown. At times, vehicles have had to perform U-turns near the railroad tracks.

Once upgrades to the maintenance facility are completed – which would add about 8,700 square feet to its footprint – the building also would serve as the district’s headquarters and Station 1.

The first floor would contain administrative offices, and the second floor would serve as the living area for fire crews. It would include a day room, kitchen and workout facilities. These amenities are limited in the Coral Street building.

Once the work is complete, Ravagnie said, the district would begin the process of selling the Coral Street building.

Board members expressed support for the project during the meeting and had no critiques.

The district at one time had looked into acquiring land on a vacant site at Route 47 and Mill Street, which has been the target of other development proposals, such as an apartment complex.

Construction on Station 5 and the Main Street upgrades are slated to begin in the spring. Station 5 is expected to be finished in December, and upgrades to the maintenance facility should be completed in summer 2020, Ravagnie said.