Cherokee County advances plan for new Mica fire station

Cherokee County expects to begin construction later this year on a new Mica fire station to replace an existing one built by volunteers in the 1970s. CHEROKEE COUNTY FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES

Cherokee County expects to begin construction later this year on a new Mica fire station to replace an existing one built by volunteers in the 1970s. CHEROKEE COUNTY FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES

Construction of a new fire station in the Mica area of Cherokee County is on track to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020, Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services announced.

The county in May was to close on land at Yellow Creek and Conns Creek road east of Ball Ground for the new station. It will replace the Mica Fire Station built by volunteers in the 1970s, according to Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather.

Cherokee County citizens approved a referendum in 1988 to implement a fire tax, officials said. Since then, many of the old volunteer stations have been modified to accommodate the living quarters of full-time firefighters.

The Mica station needed extensive repairs, and the department determined it made more sense to build new rather than renovate. “Those old volunteer stations were never built to be lived in, and we would have had to modify that (Mica) station several times to accommodate career personnel,” Prather said.

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