The Fire House Building Committee reduced the expected expense for the new fire house from $9.5 million to an estimated $8.3 million during a two-hour meeting Wednesday night.
“It’s a pretty significant reduction,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska, who added that the committee had removed many items from the plan in prior months.
Among the decisions made Wednesday was to substitute overhead doors for bifold doors, use asphalt shingles instead of standing seam metal roofing; modify the plan for a three-bay garage, and eliminate a raised boardwalk from Shepard Road to City Meadow. “There’s nothing there now, so we decided to use gravel,” Riiska said.
The committee is not yet done with its review of the specifications. “There are couple of things we might revisit. Our goal is to get it as low as possible for the taxpayers,” Riiska said.
Looking at funding, he said the town has been promised $2.5 million in state dollars and $2.2 million in pledges through a continuing capital campaign. Riiska also applied for $1.5 million in federal funds, which passed the appropriations committee at $1.25 million. It awaits congressional action.
“We’re still looking at other avenues for funding,” he said. He is now working on his budget and trying to determine how much money will have to be borrowed when all other funding sources have been tapped.
Any shortfall in funding from other sources will have to be bonded, probably at more than 4 percent interest. The money would be in the form of a line of credit and the town would pay only interest during the 2025-26 fiscal year with monthly payments starting in the following fiscal year.
The town wants to go out to bid in March and the building will take about 18 months to complete once construction begins.