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MENTONE - If a purchase agreement is approved by the Mentone Tri-Township Fire Control Board, the agency will become owner of a block of lots in town where a new fire station will be built.
Harrison Township Trustee/Assessor Jim Moyer attended Mentone's Town Council meeting Monday to inform the council of the fire control board's plans. If the agreement is approved, closing on the real estate would take place in two weeks and the fire control board would then begin to pursue grants for construction of the building. Moyer said funds have been set aside for the land, but the board doesn't have a building fund.
The property is owned by Lela Stein of Fort Wayne and consists of eight town lots totaling 1.6 acres, Moyer said.
The fire control board comprises Moyer, Franklin Township Trustee Trilia Gearhart, New Castle Township (in Fulton County) Trustee Linda Erp, Mentone Town Council representative to the board Ed Rock, who serves as president of the board, and Jim Tibbets, an appointee to the board who serves at its secretary/treasurer. The board is funded through property tax funds in each of the townships, as well as the town.
Moyer said the board has been looking for property in and around Mentone since April with the intention of building a new fire station. For insurance purposes, Moyer said, it is required that the fire station be located within town limits. He cites lack of adequate space at the current site on Ind. 19 as the main reason for the proposal to build anew. Moyer said he believes an injury to a firefighter in the early 1990s resulted because of the lack of space. The injury was caused when the firefighter was pinned between two fire department vehicles.
The Mentone Fire Department houses five trucks and the necessary firefighting equipment, with the need for an 8-by-10-foot storage shed for overflow.
The current site is landlocked, Moyer said, with a state highway on one side and a railroad track on the other.
Additionally, the fire station building is used for Mentone Emergency Medical Service, the local nutrition site and the town hall.
The fire control board currently maintains all costs for the building and the contract among the government units states the building reverts to town ownership if the fire control board moves out.
