ABOVE: A view looking north, across West Newell Road, from the DaVita Vermilion County Dialysis location; where the Bismarck Community Fire Protection District plans to build a new station.
The Danville Planning and Zoning Commission has given a “thumbs up,” by a 4-0 vote, to the Bismarck Community Fire Protection District. They would like to build a third fire station, going along with the current ones in Bismarck and Henning, on the north side of West Newell Road; near Walmart and Menards, and across from DaVita Vermilion County Dialysis.
Bismarck Fire Chief Eric Johnson stated this would replace the couple of garages they currently have for a third station at 2028 West Lake Boulevard; saying that current fire trucks they’d purchase are now too big to fit in the old garage station. Pending full Danville City Council approval, Chief Johnson says the idea would be to work out the planned donation by the current landowner, and hopefully take care of it this year.
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(1st Picture) Bismarck Community Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Jake Wright and Chief Eric Johnson listen during the January 4th Danville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. (3rd Picture) Assistant Chief Wright makes a point as Danville Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk looks on.
AUDIO: That’s the hope. Obviously, with the way of equipment, and contractors and everything like that; once we get to that point, we’re at the mercy of them. But yes, ideally, we would love to break ground sometime in 2024.
Assistant Chief Jake Wright said the new station would be modeled after the current station on East 2750 North Road, but not quite as big. Most likely it would be about 72 by around 90 feet, rather than the current station’s 72 by 108 feet. The Bismarck Community Fire Protection District serves about 150 square miles and has a roster of about 25 volunteer firefighters.
The zoning change the commission approved was from “Agriculture” to “B-1 Neighborhood and Business.” Danville Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk says yes, that is county property on the north side of West Newell Road. But it’s close enough to the city limits to give Danville the say so on zoning.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: The zoning ordinance and state statute gives the City of Danville the authority to have zoning jurisdiction one and a half miles outside of the corporation limits. Most zoning districts outside of the city limits were blanket zoned “Agriculture” and “Rural-Residential.”
Cronk says the city recommended that the fire district go for “B-1 Neighborhood and Business” because it’s the least impactful to residential areas. This item will now be on the Tuesday, January 16th Danville City Council agenda.
