Dane County, Town of Blooming Grove Announce New Partnership to Improve County Library and Emergency Services
October 06, 2016
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive
County to Acquire Town of Blooming Fire Station, Other Town Facilities
Dane County and the Town of Blooming Grove have reached an agreement that would allow the Dane County Library Service to expand and improve the regional emergency response of Dane County Emergency Management. Under terms of the $1.4 million agreement announced by County Executive Joe Parisi today, the Town will sell all three of its facilities to the County.
Town government will continue to operate for the next 12 years out of Town Hall, while the fire station and former public works’ buildings will become the home of the Dane County Library Service, the Bookmobile and emergency response vehicles utilized by Dane County Emergency Management. Dollars for the purchase and subsequent remodeling - - $2-million - - are included in County Executive Parisi’s 2017 county budget. The Blooming Grove Town Board recently approved the sale to the County.
“People want units of governments to work together to improve services and be more efficient and that’s exactly what this new partnership with the Town of Blooming Grove accomplishes,” Parisi said.
“This transaction, and subsequent partnership, will benefit both Dane County and the Town of Blooming Grove,” said Mike Wolf, Town Administrator, Town of Blooming Grove. “The County will have access to a top-notch facility, and the Town will continue to provide services to its residents from the existing Town Hall, for the remaining 11 years of the Town’s existence.”
The facilities, located along South Stoughton Road, offer easy access to main highways like the Beltline, Highway 51 and Highway 151 and provide the first permanent home for emergency response vehicles that until now have been stored in partnership with a number of local fire departments.
The new site offers an opportunity for the Dane County Library Service to have greater space than current facilities used at the Job Center. It also makes it easier for daily book delivers by the South Central Library System and has ample space to safely store the Dane County Bookmobile and Readmobile, which are utilized by communities across Dane County.
Under the agreement, the Town will provide snow plowing, lawn care, and garbage removal at all of the facilities for the 12 year term of the lease of the Town Hall, saving the county on operating expenses. Pending final approval by the County Board of Supervisors, renovation work needed to convert the Blooming Grove facilities into the new home for the Library Service is expected to begin early next year.