Albany City Council reviewed drawings of the new Albany Fire Station and set the city’s property and personal tax rates at its regular meeting last Tuesday evening, August 6 with five of six members on hand.

The council first heard from Nick Sewell of Sewell and Sewell Architects of Bowling Green, who had drawn the plans for the new fire station to be constructed at Bobby Grant Drive in north Albany, near the Wellness Center and Air Evac and EMS facilities.

Sewell gave a timeline of the project since its beginning, saying the idea for the project began in 2012 and after site visits, the grant process to fund the project began in July of that year. The city was awarded $500,000 in grant funding and will also add $100,000 for a total project of $600,000 for construction and related fees.

The grant for the project was officially approved in February of this year.

The final drawings on the facility were reviewed by the council, along with Sewell and Albany Fire Department Chief Robert Roeper. The building will include a three-bay area for trucks and a large training room area, offices, and so forth.

After looking at the architectural drawing of the building and grounds, the council gave verbal approval of the lay-out and Sewell said the next step would be to submit the plans to the state for approval. He said the plans would be submitted the first of this week and it usually takes three to four weeks for approval to be received.

Following that time period, the project can be let for bids, which will be another three to four week process. Once a construction bid is awarded, it is estimated to take six to seven months to build the facility.

At the aforementioned timeline, a bid could be awarded by early fall. Although the grant for the project goes into the year 2015, Sewell said the project completion goal is by the end of April 2014. He further said that of the full $600,000 in funds available, the building construction itself would have about a half-million or maybe a little bit more.

Council members expressed their opinions that they would like to see a local construction company or at least a company with local workers and ties, be able to do the project. Sewell said at least one area company had a couple of people from Albany that would be able to handle the project and noted there have been a lot of interest from contractors about the project.

The council then opened the only bid(s) that had been submitted on surplus vehicles, all three being from Josh Cowan. The bids were $502.60 on a 1999 Dodge; $401.21 on a 1998 Jeep Cherokee; and $360.21 on a 1998 Ford Ranger, for a total on all three vehicles of $1,264.02. The council approved the only bids that were received on each vehicle.

The council, on a motion by James “Smitty” Smith, also set the property and personal tax rates for the city for the next year, with each remaining the same as the past several years, at .18 cents per $100 accessed value on personal property and .20 cents per $100 on tangible property.

Also on a motion by Smith, the council voted to authorize the mayor to sign a resolution to apply for a grant to be used to obtain body armor for the police department.

Mayor Nicky Smith then gave a brief project update that had been submitted by Monarch Engineers, which included the following:

* Highway 127/Highway 1590 Interchange: On the southeast corner of the interchange the state constructed a drainage pond which has a 6-inch water line and a 4-inch force main that runs through the middle of the pond. A request was made by the city to the Department of Transportation to relocate these two utility lines and the state has agreed to do so. The cost is approximately $125,000 to be paid by the state. The work is expected to be completed in a few months.

* Albany Bypass/Wolf River Dock Road Sewer Extension: A preliminary investigation has been completed which evaluates the extension of the city’s sewer system to serve the new interchange where Wolf River Dock Road intersects the new bypass. The preliminary cost estimate is in the range of $400,000 and applications for financing have been submitted to the State of Kentucky for consideration.

* Highway 1590 Sewer Line Extension: A preliminary cost estimate has been determined to extend the city’s sewer system to serve a potential new commercial customer near the radio station. The total cost is estimated to be $150,000 and applications for financing have been submitted to the State of Kentucky for consideration.

Following regular business, the council entered into a brief eight-minute closed session on personnel with no action being taken.

Prior to the meeting coming to a close, Councilwoman Tonya Thrasher said she had been asked about possible ways to help beautify the downtown area and the council agreed to have some flowers planted at some sidewalks corners inside the downtown area.

The next regular meeting of Albany City Council is slated for Tuesday, September 3 at 5 p.m. at city hall and is open to the public.