By Martha E. Conway
(Clockville, NY – June 2014) The Lincoln Fire District will hold a vote next month to get approval from residents to move forward with plans to renovate the fire house on Clockville Road in the hamlet of Clockville. A public hearing to discuss the project and answer residents’ questions will be held at 7 p.m. July 18; the vote will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. July 22.
According to fire service member Joseph DeFrancisco, the renovation will benefit the community by improving safety of firefighters moving around the apparatus bays and public safety by changing the station’s ingress and egress from Clockville Road to Oxbow Road.
“The new design turns the station 90 degrees, so equipment will exit onto Oxbow Road, alleviating traffic hazards and accident risks,” DeFrancisco said. “It will also improve firefighter safety getting in and out of the apparatus bays by providing man doors that will bring personnel behind the rigs instead of in front of them while they gather their equipment.”
The design calls for tearing down the apparatus bays and reconstructing new ones, nearly doubling the space from 32-by-50 square feet to 60-by-50 square feet. Volunteer firefighters plan to do the demolition themselves, with contractors doing the reconstruction.
“We ran out of space,” DeFrancisco said the current structure, which was built in 1955, adding that the proposed pre-engineered, metal-clad construction should last 50 years. “Our last truck purchase was in 2004, and it had to be decided upon based upon the wheel base of the vehicle and not what was best for the district. We’ve been planning this project for a long time – probably a decade.”
Part of the cost of the $715,000 renovation will come out of the district’s capital reserve fund; however, the district is required to get the permission of voters to allocate that money for the project. The balance will be bonded for 15 years.
“There will be no tax impact,” DeFrancisco said. “Our fire tax is the same or less than it was in 1991.”
According to DeFrancisco, the district should be able to continue to fund its truck replacement program and fund this project without any tax impact for at least another eight to 10 years.
“We are hoping these efforts bring in any interested parties to look at the architectural drawings and ask questions,” DeFrancisco said.