July 28, 2009

New firehouse: dream to shovel-ready in three months

A proposal to construct a new firehouse to replace the aging Vincent P. Kelly Road building has gone from concept to shovel-ready in less than three months.

But it still isn’t a sure thing that the $4 million project will get the federal stimulus funding that municipal leaders are hoping for.

Mayor Art Ward said at if the city firehouse project is lucky enough to make the cut, it would be a huge help for taxpayers.

It would also be the first major step toward bringing the aging firehouses “up to speed with modernization,” Ward said.

Fire Chief Jon Pose said that he is impressed by the “just incredible work” of city officials and boards to push through all the paperwork in plans so quickly.

“Everyone was just so cooperative,” Pose said.

Don Goranson, a longtime fire commissioner, said the grant application prepared by Robyn Bugbee, the city’s grants coordinator, was excellent. He said it did a stellar job of making the case for funding for Bristol’s firehouse.

City officials hope to snag federal economic stimulus money to pay for construction of the new four-bay firehouse that would take the place of the half century old Engine 4 building.

The existing building has two bays for trucks.

If Bristol’s firehouse is among the projects funded, the federal government would wind up paying 80 percent of the cost of the new station, leaving the city with only an $800,000 bill to get a new building.

The federal stimulus package includes $210 million for qualified firehouses, which can receive up to $5 million apiece.

There are likely to be thousands of municipalities and fire districts seeking funding so Bristol’s chances may longer than city officials anticipate. But it can’t hurt to have U.S. Rep. John Larson, an East Hartford Democrat who holds a powerful leadership post in the House, pushing for the project in his district, officials said.

The city opted to use an off-the-shelf architectural design that worked best at the 2.2-acre Vincent P. Kelly firehouse site.

It agreed to pay $25,000 to Friar Associates, Inc. for the architectural renderings if the grant comes through.

A 2008 study by Kaestle Boos Associates determined that updating and expanding four of the city’s firehouses would cost $13 million. That would cover the firehouses on Hill Street, Church Avenue, Vincent P. Kelly Road and Mix Street , all of which suffer from cramped quarters, little privacy, limited parking and many operational issues that should be addressed.

At the time of the study, Pose said the firehouses lack energy efficiency and have "tired" mechanical, electrical and furnace systems. None has air conditioning, he said.
"These buildings have reached the end of their usable life," said Pose a year and a half ago.

Currently, the city has just one firehouse that can take its largest truck, according to Pose. With larger, wider trucks growing more common, the vehicles barely fit in any of the firehouses.


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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tax and spend Pose at it again.

Bleed local businesses and build new gov't buildings. That's his style.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to read Gills comments on this one.

Anonymous said...

4:48 Why? My 10-year-old has more insight into what's going on in Bristol than Gill does. Hey, maybe he should run for mayor?

Anonymous said...

Here is an idea that I don't here one Councilman or Mayor bringing up! What about maybe consolidating two of the firehouse into one and building the new one in a neutral location. Do we really need all these firehouses? Again lets spend tax payer money even if it federal money, I am sure somewhere along the way the new house will cost more to operate then the old. city!

Anonymous said...

Ward isn't saying anything about the deficit the city racked up as of June 30th and it is one for the record books according to those in the know in the controlers office in city hall.

Anonymous said...

7:34

Didn't former mayor stortz ask that question in the press last week?

Guess they ain't talking.

Anonymous said...

Pose buys bigger toys and equipment that is not necessarily needed, they need bigger buildings, yet the number of fire calls in the city has decreased. Huh?

Anonymous said...

Steve, go check out the never driven piece of equipment up at Engine 2. Pose likes his toys and the city pays a fortune to repair, keep and house them. These are the issues that the mayor should be taking in hand. Like why does the truck that look like a WB Mason delivery truck go out on every call? What is its purpose? Why do we have it?

Anonymous said...

Consolidation of fire houses is answer, not building new ones.

Anonymous said...

Let me speak for all my fellow firemen when I politely tell the mayor to go kiss our you know what. We don't need new firehouses we need a contract. How 'bout handling the little stuff like that instead of projects that mean nothing?

Anonymous said...

So Mayor ward can pound his fist and say the city can't afford new recreation fields for girls softball or other teams, or to finish the parks and Roberts, but thinks spending $4 million on a firehouse is a good idea? Someone please explain this to me!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

The city's fire houses are half a century old and growing every more outdated. They don't even make allowances, really, for women to serve, which might be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Besides, a consultant already recommended replacing them.
Now there's a program that would have the federal government pay 80 percent of the cost of doing one of them over. Trying to take advantage of that is a no-brainer.

grow-up/shut-up said...

10:07 - when the smoke lifts and your mirror breaks, reflect back on your self-centered ego and lack of respect for anything/anyone other than your own wallet; on the other side of those closed firehouse doors is the world that the rest of us live in - the REAL world - the RECESSION.

Anonymous said...

Yah, none of you ever replace your car, your refrigerator, your TV or computer, or paint your house do you?

The city has to keep current in order to provide quality services.

We are still paying for Nicastro's failure to maintain the city infrastructure.

M-O-N-E-Y said...

10:08 - M-O-N-E-Y = money, money, money, money

Anonymous said...

All you nay sayers would change your mind if your house were on fire! Timely response is the difference between saving your house or watching it burn to the ground. Plus the firehouses are mainly greared for men - women are now part of that force - time for updating the old firehouses.

Anonymous said...

"I can't wait to read Gills comments on this one."

Hang in there. I'm sure it's coming. Gill has to sit down with his "advisers" to figure out the best spin, so he can get the most mileage out of it. He has absolutely nothing else to offer BUT spin. All spin/no substance. Too bad.

Anonymous said...

I think Pose is hot!!!

Anonymous said...

how about saying..."we had a hard enough time coming up with a budget this year, and next year will be worse. we will put off spending $800,000 for a new firehouse until the economy improves...."

nah...too simple....

-billy from bristol

Anonymous said...

What bothers me is that the Mayor, Klocko and the board of finance have all been convincing people that this city is in desparate dire financial times which is why they needed concessions from the unions. Since the give backs by the unions, the city has already gone on a spending spree knocking down buildings, hiring consultants for projects that can wait, spending 250K on a new track at BEHS, spending 70K to urgently knock down the old cinema 1 and 2 building at Depot Square, etc, etc, etc and the list goes on. And now a new firehouse!!! I'm thinking that the city's financial situation is not so grave and that the unions and citizens have been tricked. The Dems in town are no longer "tax and spend" they are "get concessions and spend". I only hope the unions are paying attention.

Anonymous said...

Wanna bet they build this new firehouse anyways even if they don't get the grant money from Washington?

Anonymous said...

What part of improving Bristol don't you understand? When this recession ends, we've got to be prepared to start attracting new business and retail to our City. The money is well-spent. The union needs to get over it and join the rest of us in making sacrifices.

Anonymous said...

10:07 PM,

I wish my boss had offered to let me take a pay cut before laying me off. I'd have gladly kissed his butt to keep my job.

Anonymous said...

I want to see a study if we need all these firehouses, and if we can consolidate some of these houses to save tax payer dollars.

AnonymousWestconnStudent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

How will not updating a firestation prevent a truck from getting to your house? IT's a building. If its maintained properly, just like a house, it will last a lot longer than 50 years.Even in worst case scenerio have them manually open the bay doors for God's sake

Anonymous said...

Union won't allow the firemen to open the doors! Union won't allow much of anything of the firemen, let alone work. Just task McCauley, if firemen are asked to do an extra task they run to the union boys!! Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Pose is just facing reality - something many of you should try. These firehouses have not been updated since population in this town has grown.

Anonymous said...

I must say the firefighters posting on this blog have got some nerve. There upset at the Mayor for not handling the little old contract.How about this? You take some furlough days like some other unions have and then we can afford the changes to the firehouses. Any takers? I doubt it. Also firefighters some of us taxpayers,the ones that pay you,think maybe you people are paid too much for what you have to do.Your calls must be way down.Most of your calls were lockouts until recently.Maybe we should consider consolidating some firefighter jobs.

Anonymous said...

A damn fire house is nothing more than a giant garage bay with barracks/bunks a common area abd a kitchen. Again, if these buidings were properly maintained like we had to take care of ours in the military, there shouldnt be any problems. Now don't tell me they want Gordon Ramzeys kitchen in there and serta matresses?

Anonymous said...

It will cost the city $800,000.00
to build this firehouse. Every construction project has amendments to each contract that makes the price go up. (MORE MONEY) Has this $800,000.00 been included in this budget or next, or not at all?
It's simple - if you don't have it - you don't spend it. It's a big building that Pose will want bigger fire trucks to fill it with. MORE MONEY.

AnonymousWestconnStudent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

9:46 - I would hazard a guess that no Bristol firefighter would actually post something publicly about these issues. Don't be so foolish as to assume that anonymous blog comments are to be taken as gospel. Internet trolls DO exist, and they're plying their craft as we speak.

reality check said...

3:57 - don't think for a moment that these firefighters who post on here give a hoot about you or any other taxpayers - they are self-serving persons with over inflated egos looking for a gold mine - paid for by you.
Thank goodness not everyone is that way but most are.

Anonymous said...

To the 10:07 poster'
First of all how do we know you are speaking for ALL your fellow frefighters? Second of all why is the Fire union the only union in town without a contract? Thirdly and most important is the fact that the new Firehouse is not to make your life more comfortable, it belongs to the taxpayers of Bristol and I personally don't believe that this project means nothing, it is a opportunity for the taxpayers of this city to be ahead of the curve when the economy does pick up and these projects need to be addressed.I would suggest that you would want to become part of the solution during these tough economic times as opposed to being part of the problem.

Anonymous said...

How many REAL fires does the fire dept. have to put out each year?

AnonymousWestconnStudent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Yes, as opposed to fake fire calls that have nothing to do with putting out a fire (lockouts, cats in trees, ect.)

Anonymous said...

5:02 - I'm afriad that you've missed my point about "firefighters" posting on this blog. (Or the lack thereof)
I'm saying that there is NO way that a municipal employee (in this case a fireman) is going to post something inflammatory in an internet blog pertaining to an important issue. Do yourself a favor, assume that 95% of anonymous comments are written by someone trying to push buttons.

burning keyboards said...

2:23 - guess that you have never visited a firehouse and seen the time that they spend on their computers while they are on duty.

I wonder, don't you said...

4:19 - our firefighters are above doing things such as that or is it that, in their own minds, they are above everyone else.

Anonymous said...

4:19 pm - how much time have you spent watching firemen use computers? Should we be concerned?

Anonymous said...

How much time have you spent wondering about how much time 4:19 spent watching firemen use the computer? Should we be worried?