A temporary firehouse will be installed on the driveway of the Sea Bright Fire and Rescue headquarters, which was damaged during superstorm Sandy.
Members of the Borough Council agreed to pursue the temporary facility at the Ocean Avenue site during their Nov. 13 workshop meeting.
Borough Administrator Joseph Verruni recommended a metal building after reviewing options that included a tent-like structure. He said the cost for the metal structure would be $180,000, while the tent facility would have been around $100,000.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse the borough for 90 percent of the structure’s cost, he said. Verruni suggested Sea Bright pay off the balance over a two-year period by using emergency-appropriation funds.
Council members decided against the tent-like structure after determining that it would not be aesthetically pleasing and would be less resilient during storm events.
“The metal structure is more substantial and better insulated. It just looks a lot better than the tent,” Verruni said.
Before the metal structure can be installed on the driveway of the existing firehouse, a base will have to be built to serve as an anchor, Borough Engineer Jaclyn Flor said.
“It has to be anchored to something. You cannot just put it on the pavement,” she said.
“Just so we are clear, with the steel structure, you just get that. I need to still design the HVAC system and the electrical [system] that will go to the structure. The price you have does not include that.”
Flor said the next step is to solicit bids for the structure. She said construction could begin within three months.
Plans for the temporary firehouse initially called for the structure to be placed on the eastern gravel portion of the municipal parking lot on Ocean Avenue, next to the existing firehouse. The structure will instead be erected on the firehouse driveway, where it will be easier and more cost-effective to route utilities to the temporary structure, according to Verruni.
The council also discussed a long-term plan for the metal structure after a permanent home for the fire company is determined.
“Some people want to move it to River Street and maybe use it as a recycling center,” Mayor Dina Long said.
Verruni said the structure could be sold or moved to another location in town to be repurposed.
“Moving the structure somewhere else would cost about the same as it would to install the firehouse now,” he said.
Since the firehouse on Ocean Avenue was condemned by FEMA in March, Sea Bright Fire and Rescue has been housed at 15 South St. The council voted in June to authorize a lease with the owners of the property for $100 per month for six months.