From Fire Engineering's news archives…
Dec. 16
It's nothing fancy, but it will be home to dozens of city firefighters in coming years, the central hub of firefighting activities on the city's west side.
The public will have its first chance to see the new station during an open house today from 1 to 2 p.m., at the newly created address of 3108 W. Sycamore St. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will follow at 2 p.m.
Compared to the old station at the corner of Sycamore Street and Dixon Road, the new station is larger by a third and capable of housing four pumper trucks in its bays.
Dormitory facilities at the old station will be replaced by individual bedrooms and three full baths. The old station features four beds sitting at the corners of a room dominated by free weights. In the new station, the weight room is separate, sitting off to one side of the truck bay.
The new station even has a back patio with a gas line for a grill, and separate food pantries (and three separate refrigerators) for the three shifts which will man the station.
Other new features include two separate laundry facilities -- one for regular laundry like bedsheets and uniforms, and another with a heavy-duty washer for items which have been contaminated during ambulance and fire runs. Another room off the main truck bay will serve as storage space for firefighting helmets, boots and suits.
Some new phones, beds and a radio tower they were going to buy anyway are the only things city officials bought for the new station, Kokomo Fire Chief Dave Duncan said.
The rest of the $1.25 million station was built by Peacock-Dixon LLC, the Indianapolis developer which will soon be building a new Walgreen drug store on the site where the old station stands.
The new station was built as part of a project which will involve moving the Wendy's and Subway restaurants along Dixon Road to the north to make room for the new Walgreen.
All told, Duncan said, Peacock and its investors will spend more than $7 million to make all of that happen.
"I really got what I wanted, and I think it's a really good opportunity for us," Duncan said Thursday. "The fire department came out great on this. This is a building that's going to last us for a long time."
Duncan said he hopes to move into the new station, which was still undergoing work Thursday, by Christmas. Thursday an electrical contractor was getting ready to turn power back on at the building, and some of the caulk around the door frames was still wet.
"It's a $1.25 million building at no cost to us. All we have to do is trade locations, and that is sweet," Duncan said.
Chiefy See & Deputy Chiefy Gordy must not get this Magazine!
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
11 comments:
WOW! That is what I call a bargin. Why couldn't our Chief do the same?
watchfuleye --
Well basically because the fire district mentioned here may have drastic differences in size, coverage and operations than Salisbury. You may, and probably are not, comparing apples to apples. Simply finding an article about a 1.5 or a 3.5 million dollar fire station doesn't bear any proof that SFD is wrong for building the new station that they are undertaking. Previous administrations of the SFD saved the taxpayers so much money over the years by patching and repairing an aging fleet of equipment and band-aiding a cramped, old building downtown. Many years of studying the responses, coverage and administrative functions of the SFD have brought forth the concept and implementation of the new station. The dollar figure is high however it is the result of what happens when the infrastructre of a department has been neglected over the years. You can patch and repair only for so long before replacement becomes absolutely necessary.
There are those, specifically Mr. Albero, who would have you believe that this is a waste of taxpayers money and a prize possesion for the benefit Chief See and Deputy Chief Gordy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Are there a few disgruntled firefighters upset about the new location? Absolutely, you can't please everybody and I'll bet if the truth is known about their feelings and concerns you'll find that it is more personal than anything. There is no room for that when the ultimate responsibility is the protection of the lives and property of the citizens of Salisbury. And so far, there have only been opinions offered on this blog that would suggest this new station is a mistake. Key word - opinions - no facts that support this being a mistake of any kind.
You seem intelligent enough, so why don't you man up with a name and add some credibility to your comment?
Do you actually think you're going to get fired for supporting the SFD without really attacking anyone along the way?
They have you guys that scared of your own shadows, don't they?
That being said, I believe there was plenty of proof as to why that new Station was no good. Let me see if I can think of one of them. OH YEAH, let's start with $10,000,000.00! Then let's go to a LLC purchase! A Museum that cost a small fortune. Oh, then there was a training facility just around the corner, but no, that wasn't good enough, so you built a brand new addition because you just happened to FIND the extra cash from your $10,000,000.00 funding, LIKE THAT WASN'T A SET UP!
Oh, I could go on and on about this one. However, I'll leave it to other commenters to say their peace too. GIVE ME A BREAK!
Mr. Albero -
First of all, my comments and/or opinions her don't need a name or "credibilty", if that were a prerequiste here you wouldn't have many comments. Secondly, I do not work for the City fire department nor do I volunteer so you can be assured that what has been offered here is completely my own and not a single sole has me "scared", as a matter of fact I'm not scared of anything these days. I own my own successful business and I pay taxes just like you do.
You raise some points in your larger paragraph that quite frankly I will have to address with a later comment. I don't really need to consult with anyone nor have the need to research anything - just tired and need to go to sleep. The brain works so much better when it's had plenty of rest! Good night!
I can respect that.
"I" think you'd be very surprised at what Mike and Chiefy are doing to work together. My belief is that Chiefy doesn't get the funding to upgrade the technology for his Staff. Like I said though, there are 4 vehicles in the SPD fleet that do have the same capabilities as the WCSO.
Anon. 1015, thank you for your input, and you make a good point. I know and understand that things need to be replaced, and buildings need to be expanded. I also understand that the West Side needs a fire station, and that is fine. But, having said that, would the citizenry be better served by having smaller stations over multiple areas with equipment better spread out? I'm not trying to be smart mouthed, just curious. It would seem the city would have been better served by spliting up the funds and having a smaller station on the west side and a larger one up north where all the development is. By spreading the equipment and the manpower out, the Fire Department would be in a better position to serve the community.
Would you agree with that statement?
Anonymous said...
Mr. Albero -
First of all, my comments and/or opinions her don't need a name or "credibilty", if that were a prerequiste here you wouldn't have many comments. Secondly, I do not work for the City fire department nor do I volunteer so you can be assured that what has been offered here is completely my own and not a single sole has me "scared", as a matter of fact I'm not scared of anything these days. I own my own successful business and I pay taxes just like you do.
You raise some points in your larger paragraph that quite frankly I will have to address with a later comment. I don't really need to consult with anyone nor have the need to research anything - just tired and need to go to sleep. The brain works so much better when it's had plenty of rest! Good night!
10:41 PM
Liar, good front asswipe trying to make it look like you are a concerned citizen. You know way do much about the salisbury fire department to pretend you are an innocent bystander.
watchfuleye -
In theory that sounds ok but placing a larger station on the north end wouldn't be practicable. Primary reason being that already the Delmar and SBY city limits are touching in large areas at the end. Delmar does an excellent job of proving fast and efficient response no only in their territory but as part of the mutual aid package assisting SBY. A single engine station maybe, that concept should have been addressed years ago - long before See and Gordy had anything to do with the FD administration. If you take a look at the current picture on the north end, there isn't much grass left to building anything (in the city) along RT.13 anyway. My opinion is that you will see more industry type development in this area from now on in stead of more retail.
Another thing to consider is the overall impact of spreading out a bunch of smaller stations around the city in terms of ongoing expense. A new station is a capital expenditure and once it is paid for is only subjected to overhead costs to operate it - in addition to that you can factor in the appreciation value of the land and building. To adequately staff more stations means more overhead and labor costs that are continual burdens to the taxpayers.
In a combination (paid & volunteer)department it is not uncommon for a larger more centralized station housing firefighters & EMS, administration and training to be built. In larger, more densely populated areas the smaller station concept might be the overall answer.
ANON 11:16 - Don't recall saying anything about who I really am. Not one thing in that comment is a lie, I know it, maybe you don't, and further more I don't care!
Hi 904
Okay, point taken. I think the taxpayers would probably be willing to shell out a bit more for what would be viewed as a more "legitimate" use of the funds. In other words, if we were to use the same $10 million plus to implement a central station with multiple substations, what could have been done? I understand recruitment is a problem, so can the Fire Dept train civilians to do some of the community education? For the schools, still have "Mr. FireMan" come in in "full battle gear", because little kids get a charge out of that stuff, but have a community volunteer do the other stuff. Local Employers could help by making it more advantageous for people to volunteer to be FF or "Community Educators" The cost would be minimal and the benefits maximal. What do you think?
watchfuleye -
The thing that you need to be concerned about when locating more stations is that it would take about 3 to 3.5 million a year just to maintain and staff them. Some have said 4 smaller stations are better, some say 3 smaller and one headquarters station. Either way your looking at 12+ million annually to run either scenario. I believe, and may stand corrected, that the current FD budget is around 6 million. Again you weigh the capital expenditure versus the annual overhead.
I think that in certain circumstances it is possible for the private sector to be involved with the educational side of fire prevention. I believe I have heard of some departments actually having administrative heads that are essentially from the workforce and not necessarily brought through the department ranks. I'm not sure, without a significant amount of research, how this could or would even work in SBY. As far as getting employers involved I think, by all accounts, a lot of the volunteer force have trouble getting their employer's to let them off for an emergency call as it is now.
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