HAMILTON: District 3 fire officials seek residents’ input

Mercerville fire officials are seeking residents to sit on a newly-formed community committee only a few weeks removed from a resounding defeat in the Dec. 7 referendum vote that would have funde

by James McEvoy, Managing Editor
HAMILTON — Mercerville fire officials are seeking residents to sit on a newly-formed community committee only a few weeks removed from a resounding defeat in the Dec. 7 referendum vote that would have funded a new fire station.
   Deputy Chief Chris Tozzi told the Hamilton Observer the board of commissioners of the Hamilton Fire District No. 3 had directed him to pursue the committee to help provide input and direction regarding station facilities.
   Specifically, he said, the rationale of establishing the committee arose from input received from residents at a Dec. 2 presentation regarding the referendum.
   ”Even though we lost the election we still have massive issues to deal with,” he said. “That’s one of the things we drew from meeting with the public initially is that they wanted more input.”
   An introductory meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. at the fire station where the committee will begin to be formed, he said, adding he expects the committee to start meeting later.
   He noted residents who want serve on the committee won’t have to be at the meeting.
   He said further he and someone from the fire company would sit on the committee as liaisons, but that a citizen would be selected to chair it.
   The referendum, which 246 voted against with 95 in favor, would have authorized construction of a $7.55 million state-of-the-art fire station.
   The plan, as was outlined previously by fire officials, would have included demolishing the station, which dates back to 1918, and building a 24,000-square-foot facility on the same footprint, albeit set back from the roadway.
   ”Whether it’s a patch job to the roof all the way to new construction, we need that committee to help us with resolution,” he said.
   The committee would be as often as its members would like, he said.
   Renovations may be another way officials address longstanding facility deficiencies, highlighted by a leaking roof and issues with apparatus effectively being able to depart the fire station. The referendum, if passed, would have included a — a 5.5 cent tax increase resulting in an approximately a $80 increase on a homeowner of a property assessed at $134,000.
   In a press release issued before the referendum, officials stated that a full-scale renovation would cost approximately $7 million and two years to complete, only extend the life of the firehouse by 20 years.
   Rebuilding a new structure, according to the release, would extend the viability by 40 years.