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01/21/2020 11:00 PMThe Town Council (TC) has set up a committee aimed at studying some of the issues affecting the current Clinton Volunteer Fire Department headquarters in order to recommend any changes that may be needed.
Last month, the TC approved a motion to name Jeff Hesser, Bob Voss, Jim Strong, Mike Neff, and Peter Neff to the Clinton Volunteer Fire Department Feasibility Study Committee. Councilor Carol Walter will serve as liaison between the committee and the council and Brian Manware will be the liaison between the department and the committee.
Clinton’s volunteer fire department with two stations, Station One, which serves as the fire department headquarters, is located at 35 East Main Street, and there is a second station on Glenwood Road.
The History
In 2015, the department approached the town’s Capital Expenditures Committee about building an addition to the headquarters. In 2016 a cost analysis was done on the addition. The Bonding Committee reviewed the project in 2017 and ultimately chose not to go forward with it at that time.
Last year, the town asked the department to again study the proposal to determine the needs of the department, and if it would be more prudent to build a new headquarters altogether and swap land with the town. The committee will need to determine how long an addition would be able to serve the department and if it would meet the growing needs of the department.
Building an addition was estimated to cost $3.1- to $3.2 million and would consist of a 60-foot by 80-foot, two-floor bay area. The second floor would be used for staff quarters. The department explained that more space is required to allow the department to cope with the increase in calls, in training requirements, and in equipment.
The current fire headquarters is often cited as an issue in town. It’s said to be on the narrowest strip of Route One in the country, a fact that Interim Town Manager Peter Neff succinctly summed up at the meeting.
“It’s in the worst part of town in the summer to get apparatus in and out,” Neff said.
Given Clinton’s waterfront location, the population of the town swells in the summer. Due to the placement of the traffic lights on the road, cars can often get severely backed up on the section of road that passes in front of the department.
Neff additionally said that the headquarters is likely in the revised flood plain elevations provided by FEMA. That may restrict the amount of building that could done on the current property.
The department sits on a low plot of land adjacent the Indian River. Deputy Fire Chief Mike Neff said that during Superstorm Sandy, the station had to be evacuated of trucks, personnel, and critical documents with only half an hours’ notice.
Neff told the council that if the town determines the upgrades to the fire station are something that needs to happen, he would like to see it on the bonding package in two years. Peter Neff said expanding the Glenwood station is unrealistic because that building takes up the entire lot. He added that he chaired the committee that built that station and they had difficulty obtaining permits to build it to the current size.
The Clinton Volunteer Fire Department Feasibility Study Committee is set to have its first meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Clinton Fire Headquarters, 35 East Main Street.