Tippecanoe Township Fire Chief Jeremy Likens acknowledges a member of the fire territory board on Tuesday evening. InkFreeNews photo by Keith Knepp.

By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews

NORTH WEBSTER — Tippecanoe Township Trustee Chris Francis informed the Tippecanoe Township Fire Territory Board that the initial estimate to renovate the fire station in downtown North Webster “came in about $3 million higher than I would have been comfortable seeing.”

Francis emphasized that this was not a bid nor a quote, only an estimated building cost. He and Fire Chief Jeremy Likens “went back to the drawing board” to include just the essentials needed to update the station as it stands.

“We cut out the meeting/training room because we have that here (at the North Webster Community Center),” he said. “I would assume that we’ll have an updated plan coming in soon. One we get that, we can send that out and get a better estimate.”

In other business:

• A new fire hydrant was installed at North Webster Elementary on June 15. The total cost was $18,425.

• The PERF buy-in was approved at $57,687.45. The money will come out of the health insurance fund.

• There were 24 fire runs and 61 EMS runs during the month of May. The year-to-date total is 422.

• The framework for the proposed 2024 budget was discussed.

• Medic 78 has returned from repair and is now operational. The unit borrowed from Turkey Creek Fire Territory has been returned.

• The board heard from Likens regarding compensatory time policies for the department.

• Likens noted they are still in the interviewing process for the new EMS chief position. He added that they are still reviewing applications, as well, for one full-time opening. He said that have been at least 70 applications submitted, with the process closing on July 16.