Medina approves bond resolution for up $5,758,000 for fire hall expansion

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Medina Village Board voted on Monday evening to authorize a bond for up to $5,758,000 to an addition to the fire hall and work on the existing fire hall. The addition would be in what is now a parking lot next to the current building.

MEDINA – The Village Board voted on Monday evening to authorize a bond for up to $5,758,000 for an addition to the fire hall, as well as work on the current building.

The board is hopeful Medina won’t need to borrow that much money. The scope of the fire hall project is to be determined. The village may not do the full gamut of work identified in an engineer’s report to upgrade the site.

Medina also will be seeking grants and other government assistance at the local, state and federal for the project.

“This is just so we can secure the funds,” said Village Trustee Marguerite Sherman. “We don’t have to use all of them.”

The board on Monday also approved a SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review Act) declaration, determining addition and construction project won’t have a negative environmental impact.

Medina village officials want to have the fire hall addition built in time for a new ladder truck that is expected in late 2025. The new truck is too big for the current fire hall.

That building barely has enough room for the current truck.

The new ladder truck won’t be delivered for at least two more years. That gives Medina time to expand the fire hall on Park Avenue. The board voted on June 26 to spend $1.7 million to buy the new truck from Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisc., with a delivery time expected to take 2 ½ years.

The new truck will have a 100-foot-long ladder, compared to the current truck with a 75-foot ladder. It will be a taller and longer truck. The current fire hall only has 2 inches of clearance in the truck bays.

The Barton & Loguidice firm has proposed an addition to the fire hall that would be approximately 62 feet, 8 inches by 88 feet, 8 inches. That expansion, plus repairs to the existing fire hall, would be about $4.5 million, according to a report from the Barton & Loguidice from last September.

Construction costs are up about 15 percent since then or another $685,500 to $5,255,500.

Medina officials still need to settle on how much work the project will encompass. The village was told to expect about 14 months for contractors to complete the construction.

The bond resolution on Monday is subject to a permissive referendum, where residents are allowed up to 30 days to file a petition about the borrowing plan. If the Village Board makes the final decision to borrow the money, it will seek bids from banks on the interest rate and other terms for the financing.