Dixon's fire station redesign, a project years in the works, is moving forwards as contract extension was recently approved at a city council meeting. Photo courtesy of iStock

DIXON, CA (MPG) – During the Nov. 18 meeting, the Dixon City Council considered a contract extension with the consultant firm Lionakis for additional design work and construction documents for the Fire Station 82 Project. 

The new fire station in the southwest area of Dixon has been planned for many years but the project encountered various delays. The most recent cost estimate for the project was approximately $9.2 million and council authorized a preliminary redesign in August, with the hope of decreasing the cost to a more affordable level.

The redesign efforts focused on reducing the overall footprint of the building, which will be at the intersection of Pitt School Road and Lavender Lane. Some of the most significant changes include eliminating the public lobby as well as the fifth vehicle bay. The floor plan was reconfigured to improve safety and operational efficiency.

In addition to various reductions, the plans had to be updated to meet recent health and safety standards as defined by the National Fire Protection Association’s 1,500 guidelines. 

Overall, when balancing the reductions with the required safety additions, the preliminary redesign resulted in net savings of about $400,000. 

Councilmember Kevin Johsnon said the project is years overdue and asked for an updated construction timeline.

If approved, consultant project manager Andrew MacDonald said, the full redesign of construction documents will begin immediately, which should take around three months.

After the plans undergo a compliance review, they can be put out to bid, likely by next May or June. Once the bidding process is complete and a contractor is selected, the city will have 120 days to secure bonds to fund the construction. Construction would be expected to start next August or September and a 14-month build time puts estimated completion in fall 2027. 

Building a fire station, MacDonald said, has to have high durability and meet the requirements of a residential, commercial and industrial building all in one.

During public comments, a resident asked for a more specific breakdown of how much funding the city already has available for the project. 

MacDonald said that the city has approximately $4 million in collected impact fees, with another $2 million possibly coming from a development project. The remaining costs will be covered by the purchase of bonds that the city will pay back over time. 

Councilmember Johnson said he appreciates the time and effort that went into the redesign and the additions made to the design will improve the firefighters’ health and safety.

“The facility is advanced, it’s improved upon,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t just a matter of decreasing costs; it was actually some more efficiency factors, safety factors were added. … So we added a lot but it’s still a net savings.” 

The council voted 4-0 (with Vice Mayor Thom Bogue absent) to approve the extended consultant contract with Lionakis to finalize the redesigned construction documents for a contract total not to exceed $141,826. A $163,185 budget adjustment was also approved to cover consultant fees, as well as legal fees and administrative costs. 

The council also considered a resolution to approve the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Public Employees Union Local One, effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028. 

The Local One union covers 59 employees representing 24 job classifications in the city, such as accounting, planning, aquatics maintenance, community service officers, engineering technicians, equipment mechanics, utilities maintenance, wastewater systems operators and more.

The memorandum of understanding outlines an annual 3 percent base salary increase in 2025, 2026 and 2027, along with health benefits and additional incentives. The total cost for the three-year term is $936,175. Approval of the compensation plan will result in an increase of $356,437 for the current fiscal year.

The union president said the majority of members were satisfied with the memorandum of understanding, with 90- percent voting to ratify. The council members said that they appreciated the hard work that went into the negotiations and they voted 4-0 to approve the memorandum of understanding.

Staff then recommended a new schedule for City Hall hours of operations. Instead of holding public hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, the proposed change would shift the hours to 8:30 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every other Friday. City Hall would be closed on alternate Fridays, beginning Dec. 26.

The change is intended to offer extended public hours most weekdays to better serve residents and businesses. 

The 9/80 work schedule would benefit employees, who would work an extra hour on typical days but gain an extra day off every two weeks. This could increase employee satisfaction so they can provide more effective and responsive service to the public. 

If approved, staff would begin a campaign to inform the public about this change. 

During public comment, a resident suggested alternate schedules for employees so that City Hall would not have to be closed on some Fridays. Staff explained that the city doesn’t currently have enough employees to cover that type of schedule.

The council voted 4-0 to approve the change to City Hall’s business hours. 

The next Dixon City Council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 2.