GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Officials gathered at Green Bay fire station No. 3 to celebrate bipartisan work that secured $5 million in federal funding for a new Green Bay fire station.
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Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Representative Tony Wied (R-Wisconsin-08) worked together to secure the funding.
“It’s no secret that Congressman Wied and I don’t always agree on everything,” Baldwin said. “This kind of project is what happens when we put the people we represent in front of politics.”
Wied agreed.
“I think it goes to show that not every issue is political,” Wied said.
The $5 million in federal funding will help Green Bay Metro Fire Department officials build a new fire station on South Broadway in Green Bay (the former Badger Sheet Metal site). Fire department officials told Local 5 News that the goal is to break ground on the project this summer.
Firefighters said that the new fire department will be larger and more modern. It’ll allow them to have larger firetrucks that don’t fit in their current fire stations.
It will have designated decontamination areas for toxic equipment and better ventilation. Fire department officials said they hope this will make things safer for their firefighters and keep them healthier.
Fire department officials said the new fire department’s design allows firefighters to get to trucks faster, shortening emergency response times.
“The $5 million makes it more realistic to get everything we want into the fire station without having to cut parts of it and getting half or three-quarters of what we want,” interim Green Bay Metro Fire Department co-chief Eric Jeltema said. “We should be able to get everything we need in there.”
Fire department officials say that station No. 3 is outdated and recently closed station No. 1 in downtown Green Bay. Once they build the new fire station, operations that had taken place in the two other stations will move to the new station on South Broadway.
The total cost for the new fire station project is about $20 million. Green Bay city officials said a separate project right next to the new fire station project and will bring apartment units to that area.
In a political environment where bipartisanship is rare, both Wied and Baldwin stressed the importance of finding common ground on projects like this.
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“Our firefighters don’t think about political party when they’re heading into harm’s way to head to the rescue,” Baldwin said. “Backing our firefighters should never be a partisan issue either.”
Wied concurred as well, citing the importance of using taxpayer money to help some taxpayers.
“I can’t think of a better use of our taxpayer money than ensuring our first responders here in Green Bay have the very best tools at their disposal to keep our families safe in an emergency,” Wied said. “Northeast Wisconsinites work hard for our money and we deserve our tax dollars going towards infrastructure projects that improve our quality of life right here.”
