New Paltz moving forward on planning for new fire station

Officials are waiting for contractors to provide information on whether they are qualified to build a new fire station.

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. >> Town and village officials are waiting for contractors to provide information on whether they are qualified to build a new fire station at the corner of North Putt Corner Road and Henry W. DuBois Drive.

Mayor Tim Rogers said documents are due back by 2 p.m. Oct. 31.

“It’s an expression of interest,” he said. “The idea is that a prospective contractor’s qualifications can be reviewed, so, when they bid, it’s one less thing that has to be done or, if they’re awarded the bid, their qualifications will already have been reviewed.”

The project is being planned as a replacement for the current fire station on Plattekill Avenue, with up to $5 million of the cost expected to be covered through the state Governor’s Office for Storm Recovery.

“We’re using that cooperatively between the town and village,” Rogers said. “There’s currently a satellite pole barn that’s there ... (which) will be replaced with a new, primary, five double-bay garage. So we’ll have enough square footage for all our equipment, plus some meeting rooms and offices for our volunteer firemen.”

Rogers said financing of the project is being handled by the state Dormitory Authority and is estimated to cost $6.5 million to $7 million.

“We’ve received some assistance from (state Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope) and any remainder (cost) we would just bond for,” he said.

Rogers said officials plan to seek bids in November and have plans approved before the end of the year.

Officials estimate the new station will be 16,000 square feet and allow faster

access to most of the village even though it is further from the central business district. They note that traffic congestion on Main Street can make it difficult for firefighters to reach the current station and for responding trucks to quickly

reach a call.

“When we were looking at potential sites, the feeling was that this is a good site for the various volunteers to get to, as opposed to battling downtown village traffic just to get to the station,” Rogers said. “Then, when they need to head out, they’ll be on roads where they can more easily get to where there might be an incident. It’s kind of counterintuitive,

where you’d think it was better to have your fire station in the nexus.”

Rogers said fire crews annually have responded to about two calls per day, with crews experiencing a spike in incidents in the past six weeks.

“We’ve had a really busy September and start to October,” he said. “We’re at (about) two-and-a-half calls a day for the year to date.”