Main Street Location Chosen for Firehouse
11-21-08

Milltown officials voted last week to designate a site for the borough's long-awaited new firehouse.

Years in the making, the much-needed firehouse will be built on the South Main Street site of both the borough and fire museums, where the existing firehouse now stands, arguably a museum itself.

"It's something we've needed for a long time," said Councilman Brian Harto, a 29- year veteran of the fire department. "We're operating out of a building that was built in 1889."

The fire department formed a committee to explore possible sites for the new firehouse about five years ago. Though the new structure was once slated for the Ford Avenue redevelopment site, ongoing litigation surrounding the redevelopment plans made that idea less than feasible.

"It was ruled out early because of the time constraints," Borough Engineer Michael McClelland said.

At the recommendation of McClelland, the council decided to pursue constructing the new firehouse at the South Main Street property, which consists of about an acre of land.

"There's really only one viable spot of the four that were suggested," Mayor Gloria Bradford said. "Is it the utmost ideal? I don't know, but it's the most affordable, and we've got to be realistic."

McClelland, along with a representative of the CME Associates engineering firm, presented a series of four possible sites for the firehouse at the Nov. 10 council meeting. For each site, the men presented pros and cons of using it for the firehouse, measuring it by four criteria: geographic location, vacant lot area, current ownership, and availability.

In the case of the South Main Street site, they determined that, despite some negatives, it emerged the best alternative due to its central location, size, and the fact that the borough owns it. In addition, utilities are already hooked into the site, and there are no environmental issues that would stand in the way of construction.

There are, however, some negatives to the site, the men said. There is some room for ancillary equipment, but not much. There is also not much room for future expansion of the structure. The required number of parking spaces for the new firehouse will be about 35, but the site would only allow for about 27. Storm-water management facilities would have to be built underground, as space will not allow for above-ground drainage.

Perhaps the biggest challenge involved in using the site will be the required relocation of two buildings there. The Eureka Fire Museum, housed inside a barn, would have its contents moved into the existing firehouse, and the barn would be razed. The existing firehouse, along with the Milltown Historical Society building, would be moved to the rear of the site. The costs involved with the undertaking have yet to be determined.

"The hard part is, you have to construct a foundation for them," McClelland said. "The real cost is in reconstructing the foundation."

For Harto and other borough volunteer firefighters, the new building cannot come soon enough.

According to Harto, the current facility is lacking in a number of ways. It barely provides enough space for fire trucks to park inside, and there are no showers for the firefighters. The lack of showers presents an issue because of possible hazardous materials the firefighters may encounter while on a call.

In addition, the firehouse has no diesel exhaust system, Harto said, adding that if the current facility was constructed today, it would not be up to safety codes.

The South Main Street site was first suggested by Milltown Deputy Fire Chief Jules Dekovics. He again voiced his support, as well as that of the department as a whole, of the choice at the meeting.

"We're pretty comfortable with this site," Dekovics said. "Our idea with building this facility would be that it will last the town another 100 years."

Council President Randy Farkas stressed the importance of making the project a cooperative effort between borough officials and the firefighters, addressing Dekovics and others from the department at the meeting.

"We have to do this together," Farkas said. "It's your house. You have to be comfortable with it."

The council finance committee scheduled a meeting Monday to discuss costs for the project. According to McClelland, the next step will be for officials to retain an architect. He pointed said the fire department has already provided a sketch of the new facility.

A resident at the meeting suggested officials look into something that is being done in parts of Pennsylvania. Towns there are achieving savings on architectural costs by using blueprints from firehouses that have been built in other area towns. McClelland acknowledged the idea as a possibility.

"We're still a long way from where we've got to go, but at least we will be moving toward it," Bradford said.

The other sites considered for the new firehouse, aside from the Ford Avenue redevelopment tract, were the Cottage Avenue site of the borough's other existing firehouse, and the Forney House property on North Main Street.