North Canton voters to see levy on ballot to build new fire station

NORTH CANTON − City voters will see a 1.9-mill levy on the November ballot to raise $16 million to pay for a new fire station.

If voters approve the levy, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay $69.30 more per year for 25 years. A focus group of residents appointed by council members and the mayor recommended June 24 that council seek a property tax to pay for the fire station.

The proposed site is on North Main and Viking Street NW, the former location of Randy's Automotive. The location would enable firefighters to respond anywhere in the city within six minutes. If it's constructed, the fire department would likely stop using its current fire stations at 300 N. Main St. and 345 Seventh St. NE.

City officials have said a new station is needed because the city's current two locations do not have sufficient living quarters for female firefighters, a violation of federal law. The stations also do not have bays with sufficient width for some modern fire vehicles.

They also have argued that dividing the fire department's vehicles among two stations is not a sufficient deployment of the vehicles, adding the new station would allow the city to have two fewer expensive firefighting vehicles than the current six.

In a separate vote, council voted 6-1 to postpone to July 15 whether to place a five-year, 1-mill replacement and 1-mill additional road levy on the November ballot. Councilman John Orr voted no. If voters approved the issue, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $44.55 more a year on paving of city roads. Collections on the current road levy end this year.

Council President Matthew Stroia said with the fire station bond levy on the November ballot, he felt uncomfortable asking city voters to approve more than one tax increase on the same ballot. He wanted members of the public to give feedback on whether they should seek approval of the road levy in November or in May.

Benjamin Young, the city's deputy director of administration, said with other city and local school levies due to expire the next few years, it might not be possible to renew or replace those levies where they could have just one tax increase on the ballot.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.