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Mt. Juliet is moving forward on a new fire station for the city’s north side near Green Hill High School. (Photo: Andy Humbles / The Tennessean)

Mt. Juliet is moving forward on a new fire station for the city’s north side with a groundbreaking held Monday.

The station will be built on just over two acres just across North Greenhill Road from Wilson County’s Green Hill High School. 

Mt. Juliet bought the property for about $200,000 from Wilson County Schools. Wilson County Director of Schools Donna Wright and Green Hill High Principal Kevin Dawson attended Monday’s groundbreaking.

The city has estimated it will cost $3 million for the new fire station that is projected to be 11,500 square feet. A timeline on when construction will start and when the station will open is still tentative.

Mt. Juliet has a fire station on the city’s south side near Providence Marketplace. The city also owns a station behind City Hall near the center of town that the Fire Department of Mt. Juliet and Wilson County Emergency Management Agency use.

Mt. Juliet Commissioner Ray Justice believes north side residents haven’t had the same value for their tax money as those in other parts of the city closer to a fire station.

“It means people in my district will have the protection they deserve and need, and the protection they are paying for,” Justice said.

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Mt. Juliet restarted its fire department in 2013 for the first time since 1986. A property tax was instituted in Mt. Juliet in 2011 as a funding mechanism for enhanced fire protection. The tax rate is 16.64 cents for every $100 of assessed value.

“This raises the bar across the city,” Commissioner and Vice-Mayor James Maness said. “We’re getting quite a few overlapping calls now. It will greatly improve response time on the north side, but it helps the south side as well (when personnel is already on the north side).”

Mt. Juliet has a smaller fire engine through a grant that will be used for the new station. Plans are also to house a ladder truck that was previously parked in a temporary home behind Green Hill Church that suffered wind damage earlier this year.

Justice also sponsored an ordinance to add nine firefighters for the city.

Reach Andy Humbles at [email protected] or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

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