Cong. Lauren Underwood is asking Congress to consider giving $1.5 million to the city of Ottawa to build a north side fire station. An announcement from her office says long response times for ambulances on the far north side are a big concern. They may be even bigger since St. Margaret’s Health Peru closed. Fire Chief Brian Bressner says it takes four or five minutes to go from the main fire station on Lafayette St. to Walmart—when traffic’s light.
A new fire station in that area is something the department’s top personnel have been hoping for since at least a decade ago. The money, if approved, would come from the Community Project Funding program.