Springfield City OKs property purchase for a new firehouse but adds a contingency

Two weeks after agreeing to a deal to purchase land for a west-side fire station, the Springfield City Council Tuesday agreed to buy a controversial tract of land at 11th and Ash streets for an additional firehouse.

The agreement is subject to the final cost of the environmental cleanup still being worked on at the former Honeywell-Hobbs property.

At last week's committee of the whole, council members heard for the first time that the "worst case scenario" for cleanup could be $480,000 for the proposed site of Station No. 6.

Springfield council members had considered shelving the ordinance until the next meeting, but it passed with Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso and Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley casting "no" votes.

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The amendment, Mayor Jim Langfelder said, "shows the public we are serious about this site. We want to move forward if at all potentially possible but there are certain processes we have to go through to do our due diligence."

The city is awaiting results of soil samples from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Hobbs produced controls, switches, lighting systems, battery indicators and meters for the transportation industry on the site before it was shut down for good in late 2010.

"What'll come down to is, can it be mitigated, which we believe it can, and the second part is what would it cost and the third part is will (Honeywell-Hobbs) help in that portion of it," Langfelder said.

Conley said she was concerned about the open-ended nature of the amendment, the unknown costs involved and no clear assessment of what the contaminants are involved.

"We need to have better information," Conley contended after the meeting. "If we had just held that ordinance for two weeks, then we could get our reports back so we could know what we're actually dealing with (and then) I would have a different comfort level. Pushing it through tonight is not comforting for me."

DiCenso has said in past meetings that alternatives to the 11th and Ash site need to be considered while Fire Chief Brandon Blough has stated that it is the best location.

Station No. 6 is currently located at 2156 S. Ninth St.

The price tag for the 11th and Ash property was $80,000, with closing costs.

Sliding on down

Part of the consent agenda that was approved Tuesday included an ordinance authorizing a sponsorship agreement between the city and Doug Knight, the owner and general manager of Knight's Action Park and Splash Kingdom, who is trying to buy the Giant Slide from a Minnesota businessman.

The nearly 40-foot-high slide has been a mainstay at the Illinois State Fair since 1968.

The $30,000 annual payment for four years would help with the operation of the slide, said Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The idea is to open the slide to the public outside of the regular fair run, which is Aug. 11-21. The slide would also be open on Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. through the end of August.

Related: Iconic attraction is up for sale, amusement park owner makes bid to keep it in Springfield

It could also be part of a marketing campaign around the city and the Route 66 Experience at Gate 2 of the fairgrounds. The "Mother Road" celebrates its centennial in 2026.

Knight told The State Journal-Register last week that the city's support "makes the difference of the deal happening or not."

The asking price for the slide is $250,000.

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin asked if the city could put a clause in the contract that made Knight agree to keep the slide there.

"After the subsidy (is up), he could try to sell it," McMenamin pointed out.

There was no immediate word Tuesday on the update of the sale.

Pedestrian ordinance

An ordinance about people in roadways that Langfelder has insisted is a matter of public safety was again held as city attorneys continue to look at information from the Office of Public Works and the Springfield Police Department.

The ordinance also was pulled a month ago after two outside groups drafted a letter to the city expressing concern that the city code was being broadened to exclude people from medians.

Although the ordinance would prohibit people from standing in medians and roadways for the purpose of approaching a vehicle for any reason, the ACLU of Illinois and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless contended "it is clearly targeted at people seeking monetary contributions."

Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer expressed his frustration over the move.

More: Dick Hart, 2021 State Journal-Register First Citizen Award winner, dies in Springfield

"So we can't even do a simple loitering ordinance anymore without getting sued? Because what they're doing is loitering and we should be able to stop that," Hanauer said. "I'm sorry, but this isn't about panhandling. It's about safety. People are loitering in areas they should not be loitering in and we should be able to stop that."

Corporation counsel James Zerkle said the issue is the ability to restrict people soliciting in certain areas.

"We've looked at ordinances from other cities," Zerkle said. "There's been a tremendous amount of litigation across the country on this very issue. We need to be correct and very specific on any restrictions regarding solicitations based on safety concerns."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield IL city council to buy new property for a new firehouse