When it comes to quickly extricating motorists from mangled vehicles, firefighters from the Cherry Valley Fire Protection District are second to none. Now, it is the Fire Protection District that needs the public to help extricate it from a $2.25 million financial hole.
The lifesaving tool of choice is not the hydraulic-powered Jaws of Life. Instead, it’s a proposed $2.25 million bond sale that will go before voters on the March 17 ballot.
If voters approve the proposal, district officials will use the money to pay off debt related to construction of Station No. 2 at 4919 Blackhawk Road, $1.1 million; improvements to the district’s downtown Administration Building, $92,764; and purchases of two used firetrucks, $780,254; and a new ambulance, $300,000.
Fire Chief Joe Corl said the district makes annual loan payments of $272,151 plus $77,163 per year in interest.