Bids rejected for Potowomut fire station

Posted 6/12/14

With the lowest bid running $1 million more than the $2 million projected cost, the city has elected to go back to the drafting table for a Potowomut fire station.

Last week, the city rejected all …

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Bids rejected for Potowomut fire station

Posted

With the lowest bid running $1 million more than the $2 million projected cost, the city has elected to go back to the drafting table for a Potowomut fire station.

Last week, the city rejected all eight bids for the station that is to be built on the site of the former Potowomut School. They ranged from a low of $3,050,000 to a high of $3,569,000.

Mayor Scott Avedisian said Tuesday the city would need to go out to bid again after “changing the scope” of the new station. He suspects the Fire Department’s intention to use it as a backup for the emergency command center at Station One in Apponaug pushed up costs. To meet the designation as a center, Avedisian said it had to be “bomb-proofed.”

Fire Chief Edmund Armstrong had hoped a bid could be awarded this spring and that construction of the two-bay station would have been largely completed by the end of this year. The station had been touted for adding no cost to the city while providing Potowomut residents fire protection service equivalent to the rest of the city.

Presently, the area is provided service under an agreement with East Greenwich costing about $350,000 a year. But even though East Greenwich is providing coverage, Warwick apparatus stationed in Cowesett also respond to most Potowomut calls.

The Potowomut station would be staffed by one of the two engine companies now housed near Aldrich Junior High School, thereby not requiring additional personnel or equipment, according to the chief. The money saved by ending the contract with East Greenwich would underwrite the debt service costs of borrowing the $2 million to build it.

Could the city seek additional funding and proceed with construction?

Avedisian doesn’t see that. He said the bond issue is for $2 million and the station would need to be redesigned to lower costs. The cost of the station was projected at $1.8 million with demolition costs for the school at $200,000.

“I spoke to the chief,” said Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla. “You have to stay on budget.”

Merolla has consistently pushed for a Potowomut station, maintaining that the city is overpaying East Greenwich.

“It really doesn’t make sense,” he said of the agreement. “We provide them with mutual aid. We’re their backup. Where they got the notion to charge that amount of money is ridiculous.”

Merolla thinks a reserve rescue should be stationed in Potowomut and, depending on the nature of the call, firefighters should use it or a truck to respond. This would provide area rescue service without creating another rescue company. And, as a lot of calls are to Goddard Park, he reasons the city should be reimbursed by the state, if not the insurance companies of the individuals assisted.

He thinks rescue service could be a “money maker.”

Voters approved the bond issue in 2006 for the station but, with the recession, Avedisian put a moratorium on issuing bonds to control city debt expenses. With closure of the Potowomut School as part of school consolidation, and subsequent unsuccessful efforts to find other uses for the building, however, the property became the prime site for the fire station.

While other sites were suggested, including one on Ives Road, and there were suggestions that Warwick should cooperatively work with East Greenwich, which is looking to relocate its Main Street station, the administration settled on the school site. It was determined the former school could not be re-purposed for a fire station and it was razed last year.

Comments

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  • markyc

    NO Additional funding! Scale back the original plan to a standard fire station on the designated location with no frills- No Emergency Command Center & no community meeting room(s) center. Stick to the original authorized budget!

    Thursday, June 12, 2014 Report this

  • FASTFREDWARD4

    do you think they should put bath rooms in MARKYE or should the p in the back of the station. NUTS

    Thursday, June 12, 2014 Report this

  • TheDeal

    Merolla probably sounds like he makes a lot of sense to the average person but anyone with any insight knows his visions of "reserve" rescues and "pick a truck" policies are ridiculous and unsafe. Firstly, every "reserve rescue" (not to mention all the junk reserve engines) in this city are just that, junk. And guess what? When you have a "reserve" rescue responding as a frontline truck, ITS NO LONGER A RESERVE! So basically he wants to stick a understaffed POS down there and tell you all about the pennies it saved. You need a staffed engine and a staffed, good rescue in Potowomut if you want to maintain the level of service now provided by EG. Pick a truck and "reserves" are a DEGRADATION OF SERVICES!! Furthermore, what happens when that "reserve" rescue is at the hospital (because the city forced the 2 guys to "pick a truck")?? I'll tell you what happens, Potowomut HAS NO FIRE/EMS PROTECTION!!! Is it a good idea to open a station there? Sure. But it is a awful idea to run a skeleton crew with junk trucks. So awful it might be negligent.

    Thursday, June 12, 2014 Report this

  • Reality

    Cancel this ridiculous money pit.....go back and re-negotiate the East Greenwich contract and stop appeasing the greedy Warwick Fire Dept.

    Friday, June 13, 2014 Report this

  • Unionthug

    How is the Fire Department greedy. We don't want it either...

    Friday, June 13, 2014 Report this

  • TheDeal

    This was not even a union idea. To say this is an effort to appease the "greedy" WFD is a wholly ignorant statement.

    Friday, June 13, 2014 Report this

  • allent

    money pit for the greedy fireman. more o/t scamming.

    Saturday, June 14, 2014 Report this

  • Unionthug

    What do you do for a living hepdog?

    Saturday, June 14, 2014 Report this

  • allent

    50% of ri fireman retire on disability.

    Saturday, June 14, 2014 Report this

  • Unionthug

    Hep dog, please provide one once of proof for that last comment. Stop with the completely false comments....

    Sunday, June 15, 2014 Report this

  • Reality

    Steve D aka Warwick fireman can't accept the fact that the WFD is always over budget for overtime costing the taxpayers millions every year. Armstrong gets up every year at budget hearings and says he has it under control but overtime gets worse.

    Why does the WFD need 10 battilion chiefs at $100 k base salary plus $65 k benefit package before overtime. What a waste of the taxpayers money.

    Sunday, June 15, 2014 Report this

  • TheDeal

    There aren't even 10 battalion chiefs. You're just spewing made up info. This wasn't even the unions idea and the vast majority of members are against or indifferent to the plan and It doesn't serve to bolster OT in anyway.

    Wednesday, June 18, 2014 Report this

  • patientman

    When this was announced and the fire chief and mayor were touting this as a money saver for the taxpayers I called out bull crud. Looks like I was right. The building's construction is already 50% over budget. You will rarely if ever save money by growing government.

    Thursday, June 19, 2014 Report this