County downsizes plans for new emergency management operations center
Fire chiefs urge county to work on new EMO site
File photo by Tom Rivers: The emergency management office was built as early 1960s bomb shelter. It has a leaking roof and a shortage of space. The building is 8,000 square feet – 80 by 100 feet. Most of the structure is underground. It isn’t handicapped accessible and doesn’t have enough space for the emergency management office, said Justin Niederhofer, the EMO director.
ALBION – Orleans County officials have downsized the plans for a new emergency management office, seeking to reduce the expense from an estimated $10 million to an estimated $2.3 million.
The lower price would be covered entirely by state and federal grants and would give the emergency management office and first responders a modern facility for offices and training.
The County Legislature on Tuesday approved a $6,000 contract with Vanguard Interiors and Design of Buffalo for structural design and interior layout of the Emergency Management Office at 14064 West County House Rd. in Albion.
Justin Niederhofer, the county’s EMO director, said the new facility will be “bare bones” but will still be a much-needed improvement.
The county was awarded a $2 million grant from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Aug. 18, 2023 towards the project, the maximum in federal funding towards the facility. Orleans also has been awarded $600,000 towards upgrades of the EMO site.
The county is looking to spend $2.3 million towards the new building. Some of the grant funds would also go towards demolition of the existing site. That 8,000-square-foot building – 80 by 100 feet – was built as an underground bunker in the 1960s.
The new facility would have offices for the EMO staff, space for training, a classroom and a backup 911 dispatch – “the bare essentials,” Niederhofer said.
‘The current building dating from the early 1960s is cramped, dilapidated and unsuitable for the operations of the EMO staff and for fire service training classes.’ – Orleans County Fire Advisory Board/Orleans County Fire Chiefs Association
The County Legislature received letters of support for a new EMO this month from the Orleans County Fire Advisory Board/Orleans County Fire Chiefs Association, Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company and Carlton Volunteer Fire Company.
“The current building dating from the early 1960s is cramped, dilapidated and unsuitable for the operations of the EMO staff and for fire service training classes,” wrote Robert Freida, chair of Orleans County Fire Advisory Board/Orleans County Fire Chiefs Association. “For too many years the plan to modernize this facility has been ignored or cancelled as it has been the previous two years. The fire service in Orleans County has a rich history and being mostly volunteer, saves the taxpayers an enormous amount of money.”
Freida sent his letter on Jan. 21. He urged the county to set aside some of its own funds to make the project a reality.
“We understand that county finances are limited for a project such as this, but we implore you to earmark funds in addition to the $2 million provided through Senator Gillibrand’s office, to construct a modern facility that is long overdue,” Freida said. “We are not asking for anything extravagant, just a good quality construction that can be utilized for training and emergency operations for the next several decades.”
Freida, the fire chief at Clarendon, also sent a letter from the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company in support of a new EMO site. In that letter, Freida cited the following benefits:
- Improved Training Opportunities: “An advanced training facility with modern technology would provide hands-on, realistic scenarios for responders to practice and refine their skills.
- 2. Enhanced Collaboration: “A larger, modernized space would accommodate multi-agency exercises, fostering improved coordination among fire, police, EMS, and other critical partners.”
- Community Preparedness: “The facility could also serve as a resource for public education, offering community members training in CPR, first aid, and disaster preparedness.
- Recruitment and Retention: “Volunteer membership is at an all-time low not only county and statewide but nationally. A state-of-the-art training facility demonstrates the county’s commitment to emergency services, which can attract and retain highly qualified personnel.”
In the Jan. 13 letter from the Carlton Fire Company, Fire Chief Seth Dumrese and President David Bertsch said the 1960s’ building is inadequate for the emergency management office and for training for first responders.
“The building needs improvements and has for years and it would not be feasible to spend more money on the current building,” Dumrese and Bertsch wrote in their letter. “There is not enough room for many of the training classes/programs needed by our personnel or enough room for an emergency operations center if the need arose. We would respectfully request that constructing a new Emergency Management Office be a priority in 2025 for the Legislature.”
