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player ready...The City Council voted 5-2 this week to spend $27,000 to hire a consulting firm to gauge firefighting needs for the next 20 years, including possible construction of new fire stations.
Des Plaines has three fire stations, but Fire Department officials have said they are inadequate to meet the six-minute response time they recommend. Officials had hoped to build an $11 million fire station at Lee Street and Prospect Avenue, but the plan was shelved last year after residents rejected the proposal in an advisory referendum.
The consulting firm being hired is Emergency Services Consulting Inc. in Oregon. The agreement requires the firm to hold a public meeting and two meetings with focus groups.
The contract and a revised bid will be put to a final vote next month. The firm will issue a report in four to six months, a representative said.