Goodman Eyes Station Location

CHOICES ARE REBUILD OR RELOCATE

The Goodman Fire Protection District Board of Directors is wanting to rebuild its fire station in the most cost-effective way possible.

The fire station on Main Street sustained a great deal of damage in the EF-2 tornado on April 4.

Now, the board is looking at utilizing the $214,000 insurance check to rebuild the fire station and considering different location options, said Board Member Jimmie Morgan.

The Goodman Fire Protection District is a tax-based entity, similar to a city, Morgan said, and has to follow certain protocols.

Morgan is ensuring that Labor Bureau prevailing wage guidelines are followed, paperwork is filled out properly and that the bids are posted in the newspaper for three weeks.

Like any major project, planning and work take time. Morgan wants to move the project along.

“We need a fire station,” he said.

Since the tornado, the board purchased a lot right next to the old fire station. The additional lot would give the board an option to expand by 25 feet, if a new fire station is built on that site.

Another option under consideration is building the fire station on land located across from the First Community Bank. “The bank is willing to work with us to put a fire station there,” Morgan said. However, the existing building there likely would have to be demolished.

Morgan said board members will have to determine if it will be more cost-effective to tear down that building and build a new fire station on the bank-donated land, or rebuild at the Main Street location.

Though the check for $214,000 was for the replacement costs of the station, it doesn’t include the concrete pad, for which the fire protection district paid $11,000 just two years ago.

There was a glitch in the road and fire trucks could not drive out of the fire station very well. Concrete was poured so the trucks could move in and out more efficiently, Morgan said.

To pour the pad at a different location would now cost around $25,000, he said.

Morgan said the fire station needs to be located on the south side of the railroad tracks. A fire station in Newton County helps service those on the north side and a fire station being built in Splitlog will service those on the west side.

“We have to keep Goodman going,” he said. “We have to put our station back on Main Street. If we don’t put our station there, there’s nothing left.”

For now, fire operations continue and fire service has not been altered, Morgan said. Some fire trucks are still operating out of the Choice Puppies location, while some are still in repair.

Once the bids are advertised for three weeks and a blueprint is drawn up, board members can continue to move forward.

“We have a certain amount of money. We really can’t afford to go in debt,” Morgan said.