It’s taken about a decade, but the Hillsboro Fire Protection District finally has the land it needs to eventually expand House 1, which is at 120 Fifth St.
Chief Brian Gaudet said the odyssey began in 2014, when Casey’s General Store moved its gas station and convenience store about a block north on Business 21, from 10544 Business 21 to 10534 Business 21.
Because the old store sat right in front of the firehouse, Gaudet and other district officials took notice.
“It’s always been in our long-term strategic plan to expand House 1 or build a new facility,” Gaudet said. “House 1, which was built in the 1960s (and expanded in the 1990s), is very tiny, about 7,000 square feet. It’s not very large at all.”
So, Gaudet said, he tried to contact Casey’s corporate office to talk about buying the half-acre property.
He called and called. For six years.
“They never answered any of our calls,” Gaudet said.
In 2020, the Hillsboro R-3 School District purchased the property across Business 21 where Bridle Ridge Acres (formerly called the Hall Farm) is located, and Gaudet and R-3 Superintendent Jon Isaacson came to an agreement that allowed the fire district to buy the southeastern 1.8 acres of the farm, the part closest to the firehouse, for $75,000.
“We looked at that as a site where we could possibly build a new facility,” Gaudet said. “You can’t just pick up a firehouse and set it down 2 or 3 miles away. You affect response times, which in turn can affect homeowners’ insurance rates. If we couldn’t get the old Casey’s property, that was the next best thing.”
However, Gaudet said, that was right before COVID-19 and its long-term effects on supply chains and construction costs. An architectural firm gave a breathtaking estimate on a new firehouse.
“It would cost us $3 million to $5 million to build a new facility,” he said.
Then, in November 2023, a Casey’s district manager told Gaudet the company might be willing to unload the old lot, and he placed another call.
“We made them an offer to purchase the old building and the lot (about a half-acre),” he said. “They accepted it and in December, our board approved it. We closed on the deal March 20,” he said.
Gaudet said the district will buy the property from Casey’s for $250,000 on a lease-purchase agreement with BankStar in Hillsboro.
“I want to stress that we entered this agreement with the idea that this will be for our long-term goals,” Gaudet said. “We have no immediate plans to expand House 1. We will be doing some minor aesthetic improvements to the old store so it doesn’t look like an abandoned building. We plan to use that for storage, kind of a warehouse, for spare turnout gear and other equipment.
“I also want to stress that absolutely no money from our recent tax issue (an April 2023 tax increase to prevent the layoff of six of the district’s 14 firefighters) for any firehouse expansion. This is solely something for the long term.”
With the Casey’s deal closed, Hillsboro Fire officials contacted Isaacson about selling the Bridle Ridge lot back to the school district for the same amount, $75,000, and the Board of Education unanimously agreed at its April 16 meeting.
“It’s a win-win for both sides,” Isaacson told the board. “The sale in 2020 was underpinned by the mutual benefit of situating a new firehouse in proximity to the district, which would not only serve the Hillsboro community effectively, but also foster a collaborative relationship.
“We were pleased to be in a position to help the fire district, and we’re pleased that they agreed to sell it back to us. We wouldn’t like to see it go anywhere else.”
Isaacson noted that the 1.8 acres the fire district would have used includes the parking lot for Bridle Ridge, used during various events held there, including farmers markets.
“In recent construction estimates, we could not have built another concrete parking lot anywhere else (on Bridle Ridge) for $75,000,” Isaacson said.
Transportation Department honored
Also on April 16, the Hillsboro R-3 Board of Education recognized its transportation department after the Missouri Department of Transportation issued it a perfect score for the third consecutive year in its annual inspection of school buses.
“It’s very difficult to score 100 percent for three years straight,” said Clay LaRue, the district’s senior director of operations. “With the number of buses we run and the miles of operation we cover, I’d say it’s extremely difficult. It’s a testament to the hard work of our drivers and mechanics, who work together to make sure the buses keep running.”
The district’s 38 buses carry about 2,900 students over the district’s 107 square miles each day, LaRue noted.
The Hillsboro R-3 School District’s Transportation Department was recognized at the district’s April 16 school board meeting for achieving a perfect score in inspections by the Missouri Department of Transportation. From left: Board president John Linhorst; Gina Cline, driver and garage assistant; Jim Brooks, assistant director of transportation; Mark Dobell, mechanic supervisor; and Clay LaRue, senior director of operations.
Board reorganized
The Hillsboro R-3 Board of Education also voted April 16 to accept the final, official totals from the April 2 election, in which two board seats were decided.
Incumbents John Linhorst and Stephanie Cage were reelected from a field of six candidates. Linhorst was sworn in for his second three-year term while Cage, who was elected in April 2023 to fill out the remaining year of a seat held by Lisa Welker, is serving her first full term.
The newly constituted board then reelected Linhorst as its president, Angie Oshia as the vice president and Beth Petry as secretary.
Betsy Noack, the district’s human resources specialist, was reelected to serve as the board’s secretary.