Scotia plan gets OK
Village to borrow $13.8M to improve its properties
Village residents by a 440-369 vote approved $13.8 million in bonds to pay for the construction of a new two-story firehouse and transformation of Village Hall into a modern municipal complex that would house the police department as well as court and administrative functions.
But the referendum was not without controversy, with some residents questioning the cost of the project during at times contentious public forums.
Still, outgoing Mayor Tom Gifford, a volunteer firefighter, expressed relief Wednesday morning at the outcome of Tuesday’s vote.
“I think this has to do with survival of the village, and I’m convinced that we need the services to work,” he said. He added that he understood the concerns from some in the community about the cost of the work and the financial impact it will have on them during already tough times.
The passage of the bond referendum means property taxes in Scotia for a home assessed at $100,000 would jump $193 a year over the life of the 24- to 26-year bond.
Gifford said the village now plans to formally hire the architects H2M, which it has already been working with, for the next phase of the project.
“I suspect that we’ll start building a fire station in the spring next year (2023), and that’ll take all summer, and then probably the year after that we’ll start working on the renovations,” Gifford said. “The additional taxes that people have now contracted for won’t come on for a few years.”
The price tag for building the new 13,970-squarefoot fire station, which will feature 41 parking spaces, comes out to $8.75 million, while the other less controversial part of the proposed project calls for renovations to convert the outdated Village Hall into a municipal complex at a cost of $5 million.
The new fire station will be constructed on the current municipal lot on Mohawk Avenue next to a paint store, two doors down from the current facility.
Village officials have said the existing Scotia fire station is so cramped that vehicles are parked close to the walls in order to fit the two pumper trucks and a ladder and rescue truck, while the fire chief ’s vehicle and the fire department’s pickup truck have to be parked outside.