Medina Village Board approves seeking bond up to $5.6 million for firehall expansion

Rendering and design by Barton & Loguidice: An addition to the Medina fire hall would have tall enough bays with a building long enough to accommodate a new ladder truck. The current fire hall only gives about 2 inches of clearance in the garage doors. The fire trucks would go to the new addition while the ambulances are moved to space where the fire trucks are currently housed. This design hasn't been finalized by the village.

MEDINA – Now that the village has committed to buying a new ladder truck that is too big for the current fire hall, the Village Board agreed on Monday to start the process of securing financing through a bond to expand the fire hall.

The 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. The new truck won’t fit in the current fire hall. The current fire hall only has 2 inches of clearance in the truck bays and today’s fire trucks are made taller.

The Village Board will now move to have an addition on the fire hall to accommodate the larger truck. The project also includes needed repairs to the current building.

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.

The board on Monday voted to begin the process to seek a bond up to $5.6 million for the fire hall construction. That doesn’t mean the village will spend that much, said Mayor Mike Sidari.

The cost could be much less depending on construction bids from contractors and whether the village can secure any grants or other assistance with the project.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Medina ladder truck from 1996 is shown in March when the fire department had an open house showing the tight quarters at the fire hall.

Medina will be working with its bond counsel, attorney John Alessi from Hodgson Russ LLLP in Buffalo, on the legal steps needed for the bond.

The board will continue to have many discussions as the process moves forward, village officials said.

The addition would be on the current fire hall on the west side in an area that is currently a parking lot.

The new ladder trucks have a clearance of 13 feet. The design for the new hall addition would have bays that allow up to 14 feet.

With a new space for fire trucks, the ambulances could be moved to the current fire house. The space for the ambulances right now could be used for police cars or perhaps as a meeting area, Mayor Mike Sidari has said.

The Barton & Loguidice plan also calls for:

• A new public entry, radio room/office, laundry room, EMS room, restrooms, Decon room, gear room, mechanical room, tool room, and apparatus bay with the existing apparatus bay being repurposed to house the village ambulances.
• A mezzanine space will be located along the perimeter of the new apparatus bay with file storage and office space accessed from the existing building second floor hallway.
• A new air and vapor barrier membrane and new exterior cladding system will be installed over the existing concrete masonry unit wall construction of the existing fire station, and the existing overhead sectional doors will be relocated and replaced allowing for adequate clearances around the ambulance apparatus bay.
• The renewal of the building’s existing façade will result in creating a weather tight envelope while simultaneously allowing the cladding system of the addition to carry over creating a cohesive look to the updated facility.
• The existing concrete slab in the existing ambulance apparatus bay will be replaced, including the installation of new trench drainage and epoxy floor finish.
• The outdated emergency generator located south of the alley will be replaced and upgraded to accommodate the fire station and addition.