New station will replace 74th Street facility

Terry McGean said groundbreaking can begin “quickly,” or as early as next month, and should take 12 months to complete.

The project carries a total ultimate $10.6 million price tag and will be funded with bonds issued last year.

In the same 4-3 majority that approved the contract Tuesday, council members voted in November to allocate $10.5 million for the project.

The 23,500 square-foot building will replace the smaller station at 74th Street. In summarizing the current station’s age, size and setup, Bowers called the working and living conditions“deplorable” for the paid and volunteer firefighters who use it. He also told the council that having a bigger station with more storage and living space would be an obvious benefit, and added that response time to midtown streets is also expected to improve.

And while Councilmen Will Savage, a volunteer firefighter, Tony DeLuca and Frank Knight and Councilwoman Carol Proctor agreed that the project needs to be funded now, the rest of the group was skeptical.

James, who is also a member of the volunteer company, has expressed concerns about the project after the price more than doubled from initial estimates last year. He suggested nixing the new station plans in exchange for renovating the old one and focusing on staff.

James said Bowers’ reports that the firefighters experience operational challenges, face human resources issues and are exposed to health and safety threats at the existing station were “a little misleading.” He said he spoke to members of the International Association of Firefighters and did not get the same feedback.

“You’ve got a very active union and I’m of the opinion that if the people that work in these stations were uncomfortable or felt that they are not being taken care of that we’d know about it,” James said.

He added that he confirmed there were no formal human resources complaints and addressed Bowers’ statement about the response times. While James said the move to 65th Street may improve accessibility to several midtown blocks, he pointed out that the nearby intersection with the Route 90 bridge is one of the busiest in the city and expressed concerns about slowed response times to dense northern neighborhoods in the peak of summer.

And the icing on top, the cost of the new building is higher than renovating the old one.

“I think 11 million is a lot of money for this building,” James said, rounding up the $10.6 million figure. “I think it is a want, I don’t think it’s a need.”

McGean ran the numbers and other details on renovating the old station versus building a new one and determined that they could probably save a few million dollars for a set of concessions that he ultimately did not recommend.

“In my opinion, if you go that route you are throwing good money after bad,” McGean said of renovation. “You’re spending 6 to 7 million dollars for a fire station that you’re not going to be able to expand, still doesn’t have adequate storage, still doesn’t have adequate decontamination areas, and is half the size of what we can build at 65th Street.”

James also expressed concerns about staffing within the department, which has been an issue for a while. He said any extra money should be used to ensure that the roster is filled instead of using it to pay for a new fire station.

Councilman John Gehrig was skeptical about that as well, and voted against the contract for the new station after expressing a desire to hold off and ensure staffing needs are met.

“Ultimately, I’m not inclined to renovate,” Gehrig said during Tuesday’s discussion. “At the same time, I don’t feel good about voting for this today when I don’t know what we’re doing with staffing when staffing is the number one priority.”

Buas said he did not make the same correlation between staffing and infrastructure, but still thought the cost of the new building came in too high.

McGean said he has been working with members of the department and looking at budget numbers and believes he can provide eight to 12 fulltime firefighters in the fiscal 2024 budget.

“I think this year we can do eight. I fully expect assessments to be up in FY 25,” he said. “ … My goal would be this year we’re going to take some money out of fund balance to spend for some one-time equipment costs and things like that and in FY 25 with assessments that’s how I believe it’s affordable.”

Under ideal circumstances, he said, he would bring on 12 positions, as that is the number needed to cover the needs if part-time employees remain at the current level.

Bowers also said the department could receive as much as a million dollars this year, and for years to come, from a federal Medicaid reimbursement program that could help offset some of the department’s costs.

Also on Tuesday, Ryan Whittington, the president of the IAFF, asked council members to look into creating a committee to discuss department issues such as the new fire station and staffing to ensure needs are met and everyone communicates properly.

“We have a committee for parking, we have a committee for bikes, we have a committee for everything except your fire department and public safety,” Whittington said. “I’ve asked

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