La Crosse committee rejects $325,000 offer on old fire station, reviews new firefighter contracts

The La Crosse city council is being asked to choose between two competing plans for the former fire station on Monitor Street.

On Thursday, the council Finance and Personnel Committee voted 3-1 against a purchase offer of $325,000 for the building from Karl Schilling, representing a company called Property Logic.

A second offer of $100,000 was made by developers Marty Walleser and Tiffany Smith.

City planning director Andrea Trane believes the plans birth focused on business development.

“I felt like it was a pretty apples-to-apples proposal on what the use was,” Trane told the committee. “They were both commercial uses, and then the asking price to me was a significant difference, a $225,000 difference.”

There’s a dispute between the competing bidders over whether the purchase would benefit local businesses or corporations.

The full council could take a final vote on the fire station sale next Thursday.

In other business, a new three-year contract agreement between La Crosse firefighters and City Hall is a step away from passage.

The committee approved a proposed contract.

City human resources director Rebecca Franzen said an agreement was reached after about a week-and-a-half of discussions.

If the city council approves the contract next week, it would take effect in January and last through 2027.

The current firefighter contract expires this month.