Jonesville Fire District officials say the department’s aging Station 2 on Route 146A in Clifton Park is in dire need of renovation, but first the district’s taxpayers will have to approve the borrowing of over one million dollars for the project.
Plans for a significant upgrade have been drafted, and a public forum will be held on Thursday, March 22, at 7 p.m. at the station, followed bya public referendum on borrowing money for the project on April 3.
Voters turned down two previous referendums in 2006, both of which called for a completely new and larger building than what is proposed now. In July 2006, cost for the project was slated at $4.2 million. In December 2006, it was $3.8 million.
The existing station is 6,400 square feet. After the proposed renovation, which includes retention of part of the building, it would stand at 8,700 square feet. The cost for the entire project is pegged at $2.2 million, $633,000 of which will be taken from the department’s building reserve fund.The department also plans to sell a piece of property owned by the district on Center Road, leaving a cost of $1.2 that would be bonded. Residents of the district will have the chance to vote on that borrowing.
To aid in the decision making process, a committee of 16 people was formed. Eight members of the committee were from the fire district, and eight were taxpayers. The previous referendums did not involve a committee that included taxpayers.
“The building is not getting any younger. The committee looked at nine options including moving to somewhere else, having a dual building with the town and fixing what we have. We’ve looked at all the costs,” said Jim Miller, chairman of the board of fire commissioners, of options for the nearly 40-year-old building.
Maintenance costs for the building have been rising, along with electric and gas bills. Last year, the district spent $3,000 on gas and $10,000 on electricity, according to District Manager Judy Bayer.
Considering these expenses, along with deterioration of the building, which includes mold in the walls, the committee concluded that structural steel would be able to be saved, along with three fire truck bays.The locations of emergency calls helped to the committee decide that the current location of the station was still the best.
Miller said that there were two main goals in the decision making process of the committee.
“One was to build what was needed, and the other was to do it without a tax increase,” said Miller.
Improvements in the proposed project include addition of an office, a decontamination room, laundry room, a bailout window (where firefighters practice rappelling) and enlargement of the training and fitness rooms. 1,500 square feet of storage room would also be added.
Committee member and town resident Owen Scott Quirion saw the opportunity to be on the committee as a way to utilize his skills and to help his community.
“I do project work at GE, and everything has a budget. One ofthe things I wanted to bring along was to keep this affordable for the people of the Jonesville Fire District. None of us like to see our taxes go up. …My philosophy and I think I share this with a lot of taxpayers…is that people who do a job like responding to fires and emergencies, I think everybody would agree that you want them safe,” he said.
He also said he had to get past what his idea, and that of most people’s is — that that a fire station is just a garage for fire trucks.
“To be honest, it’s far from that. There are a lot of things that take place at a fire station…like training and meetings,” he said.
Of the committee members that were taxpayers, Quirion said most were between the ages of 40 and 60 and total hours dedicated to meeting times likely ran in the hundreds.
“You’ve got to pick what you want to do and I’m very satisfied with the results. I’m going to be more satisfied if the taxpayers approve it, because they really need it,” he said. “The front end of the work on this hasbeen done by the committee. In the end, this is a solution that takes care of both. Financially, (the district) is a very responsible group. The guys who runit, run it respectably. I’m sure we’re getting quite a bit for our tax dollar.”
The polls will be open on Tuesday, April 3, from noon until 9 p.m. For more information, including which station to vote at, visitjonesvillefire.org.
