Fire company asks for $150K for renovations
Backup generator, lounge space could be cut without funding
NORTH WALES >> The first two phases are done, another is coming soon, and a big request has now been made.
North Penn Volunteer Fire Company officials have formally asked borough council to consider a contribution toward renovating and expanding their Main Street station.
“We have asked, and received a commitment from Lower Gwynedd Township for 40 percent of the matching portion, which comes out to about $400,000,” said fire company President Frank Baxter.
“We are asking North Wales Borough to commit to 15 percent of the matching portion of the grant, for $150,000,” he said.
In December 2020 the fire company received a $1 million state grant for improvements to their station on the 100 block of Main Street. Planning for extensive renovations started early 2017, with upgrades to the current firehouse at 141 S. Main Street, a new clock tower partially funded by the borough, and expanded station engine bays for a new ladder truck delivered in May 2018. In February 2020 the company first presented plans to reconfig
ure the façade of the adjacent 137 S. Main, a former mill building, to add a radio operator bay, and Baxter, fire Chief Matt Traynor, and borough emergency management coordinator and fire company construction chair Bill Kaelin gave an update on a request first made in January, for help matching the grant.
“We needed a place to actually conduct what we call our command and communications center. That’s where we can strategize, if there’s a large event in the borough, where we’re going to put our resources,” Baxter said.
That emergency operations center would be located between the current frontage of the 137 building and the sidewalk, in a new addition that would be built to match the style of the current station just next door. Behind would be a reconfigured and expanded lounge for fire company members to work remotely, prepare and have meals, do training, and stay onsite for when fire calls come.
“If they can work from the firehouse, they can respond to calls much quicker. We’ll put some rooms in there that they can do work from the firehouse; that’s one of our main goals,” Baxter said.
“Plus, why should I go out and go to a gym over in Montgomeryville, and if we get a call, I can’t respond? If I can go to a gym in the firehouse, I’m right there,” Kaelin added.
As they spoke, the firefighters showed slides of the station over the years and the planned renovations, a geared-up firefighter wearing the roughly $10,000 worth of equipment needed for each and every call, and the five vehicles in the company’s fleet, totaling roughly $3.4 million in total value. One other figure new to the discussion: the company’s ISO rating, a measure calculated by Insurance Services Office, which Kaelin said rates fire protection services and capabilities for residents about once a decade.
“One is the highest rating, which a paid, full-time department would hopefully rate to, to ten being the worst, which is a real rural company where it may take hours to respond. North Wales’ rating, as of the last period, was a four, which for a volunteer company is excellent,” Kaelin said.
More facts and figures: in 2020 the company’s income was roughly $318,700, the largest share of which was fire tax revenue from Lower Gwynedd, followed by rental income, tax revenue from the borough, and fundraisers. The 2021 operating budget was just shy of that total, roughly $316,000, with the largest line item roughly $81,000 to cover loans and new payments on apparatus replacement, then $36,000 for repairs and about the same for building maintenance.
“The original part of the firehouse was built in the really early 1900s. We move in in 1940, and most of the wiring in that place was original to 1940,” Kaelin said.
“We took it upon ourselves, as we were deconstructing and moving stuff around inside the building, now’s the time and chance to bring our place up to code. So we rewired the entire older section of the firehouse during phase one,” he said.
That first phase also involved raising the height of a ladder bay to fit a new engine, relocating and upgrading bathrooms, and moving the company’s engineering room. The second phase involved façade upgrades, roof and HVAC repairs, and the clock tower installed for the borough’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2019, while the third phase will install an emergency generator, reconfigure the entrance, renovate the first floor, fully sprinkler the building, and upgrade lights with energyefficient LEDs.
“We’re going to finish sprinklering the entire building. We need to lead by example, so what better way to do that than all the latest sprinkler and fire protection services?” Kaelin said.
After showing the outside renderings and floor plans, Baxter outlined the borough’s recent contributions to the fire company. The clock tower was covered by roughly $45,000 in borough funds, council also covered two out of five payments for a fire company radio replacement, roughly $72,800 out of a $180,000 expense, and the town contributes just shy of $21,000 in fire tax revenue each year, while also covering roughly $11,000 in worker compensation costs and just under $16,000 in auto liability insurance.
Without a borough contribution toward the matching grant, Baxter told council, the reconfiguration of the kitchen, lounge and office area would need to be cut, likely along with an emergency generator meant to power the building. Mayor Greg D’Angelo said he felt that cost should be balanced against another figure presented by the company, the roughly $206,000 in duty time the fire company served in 2020, roughly 8,500 hours in total, providing fire protection at no cost to taxpayers.
“Under Pennsylvania law, the municipal government is not required to provide police protection. We have state police. But we are required to provide fire protection,” D’Angelo said.
“So we really should be thankful, and I know we all are, for our volunteer fire company. Because without that, we just got a preview of what it’s going to cost us,” he said.
Council President Jim Sando asked if the firehouse upgrades would increase the company’s ISO rating, and Kaelin said it likely would not directly, but would indirectly by allowing space for more training onsite. Sando also asked if the company had any concerns about the emergency generator creating fumes that could be harmful, and Kaelin said the location was chosen because it’s outdoors, and new environmental standards require low emissions.
“It’s just like the new trucks now: you won’t see any black smoke out of these generators,” he said.
Councilman Jim Cherry asked why the latest plans eliminated a display space for “Bertha,” a vintage 1920s fire engine that was originally to be located where the radio room will go now. Baxter said the early renovations revealed that the post-and-beam construction of both buildings meant internal columns cannot be relocated, and the weight of the vehicle would require reinforcement, with cost estimates of roughly $600,000 to do that work.
“If it was $125,000, we would not be talking about this. It would be in there,” Baxter said.
“We felt that money was better spent, at this particular juncture, on what we really, really need. Sure, that’s a want. Is it a need? Absolutely not,” Kaelin added.
Councilman Mark Tarlecki asked if a future phase could try to raise that money, after the interior is done, and Baxter said it could.
Council ultimately took no action on the funding request, and talks will continue at future meetings.
For more information on the North Penn Fire Company visit www.NorthPennFire.com, search for “North Penn Volunteer Fire Company” on Facebook or follow @NPVFC62 on Instagram. North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on April 27; for more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.