An agreement is in the works that would see the village of Oswego donate land to the Oswego Fire Protection District for a new fire station designed to handle the future needs of the town’s growing east side.
The land that may be donated for the district’s fifth fire station is a one-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Wolf’s Crossing Road and Devoe Drive.
An agreement has yet to be signed by the village and the fire district concerning the donation, village officials said.
The parcel became available as the village began acquiring right-or-way for the Wolf’s Crossing Road expansion project, officials said.
“The property to be donated was acquired by the village in 2022 as part of the Wolf and Harvey land acquisition necessary for the road-widening project,” Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in an email response to questions from The Beacon-News.
The village is working through the exact dimensions of the property planned to be donated, but it is likely portions of residentially-zoned property at 460 and 500 Wolf’s Crossing, he said.
“The village needed strips of property along Wolfs’ Crossing at both properties for the road widening and stormwater management conveyance. While we did not need the full properties for the project, the amount of right-of-way needed would have brought the roadway too close to the two homes on these properties and both homeowners favored full takes rather than partial,” Di Santo said.
The Oswego Fire Protection District’s Board of Trustees considered the donation in mid-February. The village’s Planning and Zoning Commission will review a planned unit development for the new station March 7, village officials said.
“There will be a donation agreement that both the Village Board and fire district need to vote on. We are still working through the agreement and hope to approve it this spring,” Di Santo said.
Fire district officials in recent years informed the village that a new fire station is needed on the village’s east side due to “the current and projected growth in service demand,” according to a village news release.
A fifth fire station in the district will provide “additional fire protection, emergency medical and rescue services” plus “improve response times to better serve the area,” the news release said.
The fire district serves a population of approximately 75,000 and has seen a 17% increase in calls for service over the past five years, according to the release.
In a prepared statement, Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said that the proposed land donation would be “mutually beneficial for our community.”
He said the construction of a new fire station on the village’s east side “will ensure the safety of our residents and allow the fire district to provide vital emergency services to this growing area.”
Voters last April approved a $17 million general obligation bond sale for the district which will aid in the construction of the future station, officials said.
Oswego Fire Protection District Chief John Cornish said the proposed land donation is important.
“This land symbolizes more than just acreage, it represents the unified approach from both the village and the fire district to continue to provide quality fire and emergency management services to the residents, those that visit and those that commute through our district.”
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.