An informational meeting about why Norfolk needs a new firehouse and how much it might cost prompted only two questions Thursday night, one about whether the proposed plan will meet future needs, and the second about whether solar panels were included in the plan.
The new structure would provide adequate space for training, storage and parking of the today’s much-larger fire engines, according to First Assistant Fire Chief Matt Ludwig. And the solar panels cut from the plant to save costs.
Ludwig said the current firehouse, which originally housed three fire trucks, was “perfect” 54 years ago but that, with seven trucks measuring up to 33 feet in length, the building is now inadequate.
He painted a picture of quarters so cramped that the doors of trucks parked side by side, cannot be opened simultaneously. Modern building codes require at least three feet of open space around fire trucks. Trucks have to be pulled out of the firehouse when meetings and training sessions are held.
“Firefighting has changed drastically over the last 50 years,” he said. “Because we are held to such high standards, we are continually training, about 20 hours a month.”
The current building has numerous building code violations and does not have a ventilation system to mitigate exposure to toxic fumes such as diesel exhaust.
Ludwig said the design for the new firehouse addresses the current and future needs of the community even though the building committee “trimmed the unnecessary fluff.”
Barry Roseman, a member of the building committee with extensive experience in developing financing for nonprofit projects, said construction costs have escalated from 6 to 7 percent annually in four-plus years since Covid. “We have had to navigate the tension between cost, design and function,” he said.
He described efforts to reduce the cost of the proposed firehouse. Preliminary estimates came in at $9.5 million. After deep cutting, the estimate was reduced to $8,263,000. Soft costs and a contingency fund pushed the cost back up to $9,263,000.
Funding will come from a $2.5 million grant from the state; $3,000,000 in private donations; $500,000 in town funds, and bond financing of $3,263,000. A federal grant of $1.25 million was caught up in the Washington budget cuts, but the town will reapply next year.
Roseman said the town should not delay construction to a later time because it could lose the state grant and costs continue to rise.
The issue will go to a town vote on May 12. Ludwig urged everyone to support the fire department.