The Clinton City Council Monday night approved a preliminary study of what it would take to turn a dilapidated property on Madison Street (right) into a potential fire station.

Recently, the Council has begun discussions on the future of housing for the Clinton Fire Department, and one target for their future has been a piece of city owned property on Madison Street. Clinton Mayor Carolyn Peters indicates the Council is investing $19-thousand to have the Farnsworth Group begin investigating what it would look like to enclose the property for a fire house.

[audio:12314madisoneval1.mp3] [/audio]

In preparation of a new fire station, the Mayor has begun to research what other communities who have recently built a fire house have done, how they have funded their stations and how they determined locations among other questions. Her goal is to be very thorough before making a decision.

[audio:12314madisoneval2.mp3] [/audio]

At their regular meeting Monday, the topic once again was brought forward, and Commissioner of Public Safety, Jerry Milton indicates the Mayor can find a lot through the Fire Marshall's website about city trends and other factors in determining a location for the fire station.

[audio:12314madisoneval3.mp3] [/audio]

For a fee, the City could pay the Fire Marshall's office to look into call trends of the city, but according to Fire Chief Shawn Milton, those trends and statistics change over time for a variety of factors.

[audio:12314madisoneval4.mp3] [/audio]

The Chief explains he has been in contact with other departments with new stations about what their locations and building materials among other things. The Farnsworth Group has been charged with coming up with a lot of that information, and the Chief notes, the study will even include several different options.

[audio:12314madisoneval5.mp3] [/audio]

At $19-thousand, the Council Monday approved the Farnsworth Group to move forward with an evaluation of the Madison Street property to find what needs to be done to the structure to make it suitable for a fire station.

The property currently houses minimal amounts of material for the streets department.