Council divided over cost for planned fire station

NEW STATION TO BE BUILT ON REDEMPTORIST LANDS AND TO COST OVER HALF A MILLION POUNDS April 1977

AT a special meeting of Dundalk urban council, members voice their opposition to the scale and cost of the proposed new fire station on Redemptorist land.

When the plans and an estimate of £515,000 come before the local authority at a previous meeting, shock is expressed at the magnitude, but consent is given to allow tenders be obtained.

Before the latest meeting is a list of twelve tenders, the lowest for £613,577.09, and the highest, £857,690.50, the cost to be borne by the ratepayers.

Subsequent to the receipt of tenders, town clerk Brian Johnston writes to the consultant architects Dermot C. Coyle, asking for a report on the feasibility and cost of construction of the main block, as against the completion of the entire proposal.

Chief fire officer Eamonn McGuire, on 11 March, said ‘One must remember that fire-fighting is a dangerous occupation and accordingly, training is an important part of a fireman’s job, particularly training in smoke and heat, with breathing apparatus and ladder drills.

‘Because of this important aspect of fire service activities, I would not favour the construction of the main block only. My own view is that the council and the county manager should, because of spiralling costs, proceed with the entire complex, and I earnestly request the council would see their way to complete the fire station complex.’

Mr. G. Berrills asks if the ratepayers can afford the fire station. On top of the high cost of the water augmentation scheme and sewerage schemes, it would cripple them.

The town clerk replies on a cost of £614,000, the impact on rates would be 79p per-annum. If the county council is agreeable to stand one-third of the cost, it would reduce the annual repayment to 49p in the £.

Mr. J. Farrell TD points out the council had decided in future the county council will have to pay a full share of fire-fighting costs.

The urban council has been carrying them for years, and even yet the county council is not paying what it should.

The town clerk says the ur- ban council has no power to compel the county council to pay. It can only ask.

Mr. T. Bellew remarks the first thing the council has to decide is what they are prepared to build.

The impression, on viewing the original drawings, is that the proposed new station is ‘far too futuristic for the town.’

It is accepted it is necessary to get the brigade out of the cramped quarters in which it is now, and to give them what is essential in the new station, but the architects proposals are far in excess of what the town needs, or can afford.

Mr. Bellew does not accept that the costs to the rates would end at 79p in the £, or that the cost would not exceed £700,000 when fees and other costs are included.

The council would be prepared to find the finance necessary to give the public the protection they sought, but the extent of the proposed complex is not required now, or for a long time to come.

The council’s task is to decide what they think is adequate for the present time.

He does not think some of the elaborate facilities in the main block, such as dormitories, catering facilities, lounges and a number of offices, are necessary.

He wants to be told where in the country such accommodation is provided.

Mr. F. Browne proposes the plans be sent back to the architects, and revised on a much smaller scale.

They will not get anywhere trying to reduce the extent of the present plans.

Mr. J. Carroll says he is not against this proposal, but believes the council must first decide for themselves what they can afford to spend, and what facilities are needed.

At some stage in the past, the council decided to have a new fire station, and down through the years these plans have developed without the council knowing what they contained, and now they find they cannot afford them.

Mr. McGuire recalls this is first mooted in 1969, when the estimated cost was £60,000.

The council selected architects to examine sites and prepare drawings, and their report was submitted to the council in 1971 when the estimated cost was £100,000. The architects were then instructed to prepare working drawings.

In reply to a question, the town clerk says fees to date on the project are £47,350.

Mr. McGuire continues a fire platform cost the council £28,000, and 12 months later a similar one was got for Drogheda, costing £44,000. Its price today is £55,000.

Asked what is in the main block which is necessary, the chief fire officer replies, ‘All of it.’

Mr. T. Bellew does not accept that anything in the main block is necessary to the station.

He says it is the council who should decide what is going to be built.

‘Why pay architects more money?’

County manager Paddy Lavin suggests local officials review the plans, and bring a report back to the council, and having considered it, they can then give a new brief to the consultants.

After some further discussion, it is agreed, on the lines suggested by Mr. Lavin, to leave consideration to the council’s own officials in the first place, and the matter should then come back for further consideration between the officials and the council.

The feeling of the meeting is that the cost of the fire station should not exceed £300,000 to £350,000.