Why they’re feeling like a million in Aston

W e often have fun in this space poking fun at our fearless elected leaders in Harrisburg.

After all, they are one of the largest – and most expensive - ruling bodies in the country.

They don’t seem to get a heck of a lot done – aside from running for re-election.

And they do things with money that consistently leave us scratching our heads.

Hey, a million here, a million there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.

But today we come to praise our capital delegation for delivering the goods to a most worthy Delaware County project.

Gov. Tom Wolf Tuesday announced he was awarding a $1 million grant to Aston Township to help with the cost of the township’s new, merged fire station.

The money comes from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, sometimes known as RCAP. It’s an arcane fund that usually winds up in municipal projects.

In this case it will go a long way toward helping the bottom line as Aston Township goes about the process of renovating and expanding the Green Ridge Fire Co. The current fire house was built more than 30 years ago. The township recently decided to merge the operations of Aston-Beechwood and Green Ridge fire companies. It was decided to house the united group at the Green Ridge site.

As you might expect, the windfall is being accepted with open arms.

Sean Joyce is president of the Aston Township Fire Department.

“This grant will be used to offset the construction costs of our new state of the art fire station which will be built on our property at 2900 West Dutton’s Mill Road,” Joyce said in a statement, while quickly running down a laundry list of local and state elected officials who played a part in acquiring the funding. Those would include Gov. Tom Wolf, state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, and state Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-161 of Nether Providence.

Joyce laid out the vision of his department.

“Our goal is simple,” the chief said. “It’s to provide first-class emergency services to the residents of Aston Township and surrounding communities for many years to come.

“Our new station will allow us to explore new training opportunities as well as give us the resources necessary to do this well into the future.”

Joyce and his volunteers also deserve praise in this process.

Three years ago, the township’s two fire departments merged and were recognized as the Aston Township Fire Department.

These processes are never easy. Volunteer firefighters are a proud bunch. In a troubling trend, they also are becoming an increasingly rare breed. People simply don’t volunteer they way they used to, for a variety of reasons.

Bottom line is these citizens invest a lifetime of sweat and passion in their local department. They also can be territorial. Their dedication to their communities is unmatched. Giving up some of that is not easy.

It took 10 years to finally get all the details on this merger down on paper. Once that was done, the township faced a decision on where to house the new, unified company.

The Aston-Beechwood site eventually was sold. Then the township had to choose between the Green Ridge site or new construction at either the township building on Pennell Road or property at Concord and Red Hill Roads.

The township went with the Green Ridge site, deciding to renovate and expand the current 5,25-square-foot facility as well as building a 15,430-square-foot addition.

When completed, the new fire house will have six fire truck bays, two bays for emergency medical services, new office space, meeting rooms, bunk rooms, a recreation room and space for storage and equipment.

Total cost of the project will be in the neighborhood of $6 million.

Neighborhood is the right word. These are our neighbors, people who answer the call when their neighbors are in need. They jump up from the dinner table, family events, even a sound sleep to answer the call.

It’s nice to see Harrisburg do the same once in awhile.

That was noted by Killion, who said, “It’s important for the state to support the needs of our firefighters. This fire house project is critical.”

Support was bipartisan. Krueger-Braneky, a Democrat, noted that in order to receive the grant, Aston’s fire service had to be “second to none.”

“The real winner is the community, of course,” the state rep said. “This award will keep local taxes down and help keep people safe.”

No wonder they’re feeling like a million these days in Aston.