Union City is looking to upgrade city streets, purchase equipment and build a needed third fire station east of I-85 and attract industry by passing a Freeport tax exemption to certain large businesses. Those are the three aims of a public referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot. Informing residents about the specifics of the initiatives was the purpose of of several public hearings, including one held Sept. 29 at Gullat Elementary School.

Voters will decide if the city should pursue a general obligation bond totaling approximately $12.5 million. Of that amount, $9.8 million would go for street upgrades, $2.5 million would go to the Fire Department while the balance would be allocated for bonding company administrative costs associated with servicing the 20-year bond.

City engineering firm Keck & Wood representative Matt Goette presented the firm's assessment of street infrastructure needs and the $9.8 million for upgrades. A total of 38.2 miles of city roads were rated and scored based on factors such as pavement conditions, shoulders, curb and gutter, lane width, road use classification and the number of house per 1/10 mile. Using the combined criteria, needed projects were assigned to three categories, worst-to-best. Categorized as Tier 1, Tier 2 and Alternate projects, they included the entire 38.2-mile survey. Monetary considerations led to the placement of Tier 1 and 2 projects on the bond referendum while omitting the Alternate projects from current consideration.

Reviewing the three categories, Goette said Tier 1 included 12 projects totaling 3.2 miles at a cost of $5 million. Tier 2 included nine projects totaling 3.2 miles at a cost of $4.8 million. He said the projects established a linear-foot cost with a 15 percent contingency built in along with an allowance for inflation. Commenting on construction costs, Goette said roads cost approximately $1 million per one mile of construction.

Mayor Ralph Moore said the referendum was a needed component of Union City's future and an obvious visible indicator of how the city is viewed by both current and future residents and businesses.

"Your streets and roads are the clothes of your community," he said.

Public Services Director Buddy Landrum said the city is also looking at other funding possibilities for street infrastructure needs, including the Shannon Mall area.

Commenting on the firefighting portion of the referendum, Fire Chief Ken Collins told residents that, if passed, the $2.5 million portion of the bond money allocated to his department would pay for the construction of Fire station #3 on the city's rapidly growing area east of I-85 and the purchase of two new fire engines. The need for a third station is increasingly evident considering the ever-growing volume of traffic along SR 138 and Flat Shoals Road, the access points firefighters must use to respond to calls east of I-85, he said. Collins said the need for a third fire station to cover the east side and portions of I-85 is evident from the number of calls, now totaling 30 percent of all calls in the city, that come from the east of I-85.

"That 30 percent number is significant," Collins said. "Traffic has increased, so response time has also increased. Our response goal is five minutes but it has risen to seven minutes east of the expressway."

With the goal of having land donated, the new $1.5 million fire station would house firefighters and two engines, administrative offices along with the shift commander and the Hazardous Materials unit. Plans call for a station of nearly 13,000 square feet and might provide access for Union City police.

Collins said the referendum would also pay for the acquisition of a new engine known as a Quint. The vehicle is a 75-foot ladder truck capable of performing multiple missions. The Quint would be housed at station #3 and can both pump water and provide firefighters with access to taller buildings, he said. The cost of the vehicle is $600,000, Collins said.

The third aspect of the firefighting portion of the referendum would be the replacement of engine #2, a 1994 pumper with a lifetime of 10-15 years for front-line service, said Collins. Engine #2 currently responds to 68 percent of all calls and continues to experience increasing maintenance costs. The replacement cost is approximately $400,000, he said.

An additional fire station and fire trucks has the effect of helping the city lower the ISO rating that directly affects fire insurance premiums to homes and businesses. Union City currently maintains an ISO rating of 4. The addition of the items in the referendum and the city's continued work on water pressure issues will help lower the rating to 3, thus reflecting lower premiums to property owners and, said Moore, making Union City more attractive because a lower ISO rating is an economic development tool.

Though the city is eligible to qualify for as much as $18 million in bonds, Jacobs said limiting the initiative to just over $12 million provides flexibility for the future in case the city needs to go