Medford, Ore. – The Medford City Council voted to postpone the three fire station upgrades that were slated to begin this year. The Thursday night decision comes after the projects, along with the new Medford Police Department station was found to be nearly $5 million over budget.
The City decided to continue with the new police building, as work has already begun. The three fire stations will be re-built when the funding is approved. Medford Fire-Rescue Chief Brian Fish said putting the projects on hold is the right thing to do.
“We want to be reasonable and respectful for that, you know, I pay taxes too, and it makes sense to me,” Chief Fish said. “We came out with these numbers now, and we need to be fiscally responsible.”
In the plans, fire station two, located on 8th and Lincoln streets, will be moved to Stewart and Columbus. Fire station three will be moved down further on Highland, closer to the skate park in Bear Creek Park. Fire station four on Table Rock road will be torn down and rebuilt at the existing location.
The original completion date for all fire station projects was slated for June of 2016. Following the Council’s decision, it’s not clear when the projects will begin and end. fire officials say the issue will be discussed in the following weeks.
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