City To Fund Fire Station For Pueblo Airport

While the Pueblo signed off on using $11.15 million from the half-cent sales tax for economic development to bring a flight school to Pueblo, it will spend another $2 million to help maintain the fire station at the airport.

The city already pays for the station there, but the transfer of $2 million in half-cent revenues will relieve some of the pressure on the city's general fund to operate the station, City Manager David Galli said.

Galli said the $2 million will be set aside in a special account and $200,000 will be transferred from that account to the general fund every year to pay for the station.

The station's presence at the airport is important because Doss Aviation promised the U.S. Air Force that there would be a certain level of fire protection provided at the airport. Doss is under contract to operate the flight school for the Air Force.

The city on Monday released $11.15 million of the half-cent revenue to help Doss remodel the former Sperry building at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Industrial Park into dormitories for the school. The money also will be used to build three separate hangars to accommodate the school's operations.

Doss will be required to pay back all but $2.42 million of $11.15 million in lease payments to the city.

In exchange for the money, Doss has promised to bring 121 jobs, which will pay an average of $44,000 a year, to Pueblo. It also will bring in between 1,200 and 1,400 students in several rotations throughout the year.

The separate $2 million essentially guarantees that the fire station will remain operational for at least 10 years.

That hasn't always been the case.

"That fire station out there has been the topic of conversation on an annual basis because of the minimal amount of calls there," Galli said.

While the money will guarantee some level of service at the airport, there is a possibility the city will consider reducing the hours of operation there, Galli said.

Right now, the airport fire station operates like any other station in the city. There are three crews of three firefighters each, rotating 24-hour shifts on duty with 48-hours off.

"It costs about $1.4 million a year to operate that station," Galli said.

The city is committed to providing the protection Doss needs, but Galli said it's possible the city will consider shutting the fire station down during the night when Doss isn't operating, there are no commercial flights coming in and most of the industrial park is shut down.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.