Adjustments continue on Spencerport fire house plans

Adjustments continue on Spencerport fire house plans

The conclusion drawn at a recent fire commissioners meeting for the Spencerport Fire District was to put the building back out for bids by January. “When we get a firm price on the redesigned building, we will go back to the public with information, hold public meetings and then have another referendum,” Spencerport Fire District Commissioner Chair Tom Friedo said.

Commissioners had hoped the reconstruction of Station #1 that was destroyed in a fire in 2006 would have been well underway by now but when the bids for the building project were opened in July, the commissioners were faced with bids that came in more than $1 million higher than anticipated. Original figures pegged the construction at about $5.2 million, a proposal voters agreed to in a referendum vote on December 12, 2006.

Voters in the Spencerport Fire District authorized the district to spend up to $5,200,000 for the cost of the construction and equipping of the proposed fire station at 175 and 183 Lyell Avenue. The district sought a $4,200,000 bond. The balance of funds for the construction will come from casualty insurance proceeds estimated at not less than $1 million.

The 20-year bond would cost the taxpayers with the median home value of $130,000 an average of $21 per year. As with all bonds, the rate is derived over the 20-year life where the cost declines from year one at approximately $37 to year 20 at approximately $9 based on projected growth data, according to fire district leaders.

Once new figures have been decided on the construction project, voters will be asked to vote again on the additional money needed for the project.

Since the bids were opened, commissioners have been meeting almost weekly with the architect to see what could be done to bring the cost more under control while still maintaining the integrity of the building. “We are building for the future - not just for today’s fire fighting needs,” Friedo said.

After altering some sections of the floor plan and taking 5,000 square feet off of the proposed 31,000 square feet reconstructed fire house, “We were able to shave off about $512,000 with some of the reductions we made,” he said.

Friedo said the process of the bid opening and the prices coming back substantially higher than expected, has also been experienced by other municipalities. “It’s a common problem to have the bids exceed the bond amount. It used to be a rare occurrence but it’s harder and harder to keep up with the price of inflation when putting together bids for a project of this size,” he said.

Even before Station 1 burned, fire commissioners had been looking at plans for a new firehouse - the fire hastened those plans. Taxpayers in the Village of Spencerport approved a referendum put forth by the district to replace the building with a 31,000 square feet, two story firehouse with a partially finished basement. The plans for the firehouse include a public meeting area, shower, bunk rooms and locker facilities for men and women, a kitchen and, most importantly, room for the department’s trucks. The new structure will be large enough to house two pumper trucks, a ladder truck, one rescue vehicle, a utility van and still have enough room to maneuver around. The former building was 9,500 square feet.

Demolition and clean up bids for the site of the former fire house on Lyell Avenue are expected to be back and that portion of the project is anticipated to commence in November.