Franklin Fire Company formulated five-year plan
By: Eve Collins
MANSFIELD Officials from Franklin Fire Company No. 1 last week asked township officials to endorse the department’s five-year plan, which includes plans for a new headquarters, a substation, and possibly a paid staff of firefighters.
Fire Department officials did not get the endorsement they were looking for at the township meeting on July 9, because the governing body said it will continue discussing the issues.
Department officials said they would like to see a new headquarters built by December 2005 and would like to purchase a ladder truck by 2007. They also proposed to the committee that a fire station headquarters be built on the municipal Civic Club property located off Route 206.
"The Franklin Fire Company agrees that the construction of a new headquarters station, the purchase of a (ladder truck) and delaying the formation of a fire district until paid staffing is necessary is a very positive step in the growth of our department," Fire Department officials said in a prepared statement. "We would like to see a facility built to not only serve us now but be able to provide the space and resources for the future."
Township and Fire Department officials already have done preliminary studies of the Civic Club area and have deemed it acceptable for use as a firehouse, Fire Company President Ben Ventimiglia said at the meeting. Officials now are waiting for an environmental study, which will be finished this week, and are hoping to present it at the next township meeting on July 23, Mr. Ventimiglia said.
With the current growth of the community, township officials have implemented a five-year plan the Fire Department has been developing, which includes the construction of a substation in Mapleton. The estimated $500,000 substation would be located on the 5 acres adjacent to the recreation area in the development.
Plans for the building include bays for two trucks, leaving room to expand for three if that is needed later, officials have said. The substation is needed in Mapleton, Fire Chief Sean Gable said, because the growth of the Fire Department needs to continue with that of the community.
The Fire Department is made up of approximately 35 volunteer firefighters. Department officials hope someday to have a paid staff housed at the proposed fire station headquarters.
The proposed headquarters would include areas for the staff as well as offices and training areas, officials said. Estimated cost of the project is $1.5 million, officials said at the meeting.
Mr. Ventimiglia said the old Civic Club building probably would have to be torn down. The baseball and soccer fields located on the property would remain, he said.
Fire Department officials said a new headquarters located at the Civic Club should be constructed before the substation proposed for Mapleton to have a place where a paid staff can stay. "It makes more sense to have a new (headquarters) to house them rather than house them in a substation at the edge of town," Mr. Ventimiglia said.
"The substation plans aren’t going anywhere," he said. "We are going to have it at some point. We’re just changing the order of things."
The current fire headquarters is located on Atlantic Avenue.
Mr. Ventimiglia estimated a ladder truck to cost $400,000 to $600,000. The fire company currently has two engines, but no ladder trucks, he said.
In order to fund all the construction and a paid staff of firefighters, officials have mulled funding options. One possibility was to form a fire district. The village of Columbus had a fire district which was disbanded a number of years ago, officials have said.
Committeeman Kelly Shea said the implementation of the district would cost residents more money now for the same services they are getting.
Mr. Ventimiglia said Fire Department and township officials decided that it would be in taxpayers’ best interest to prolong the implementation of the district idea. But in order to have paid firefighters, the township needs a district, he said.
"This is not something that’s going to happen in the next year or two, he said.
Fire Department officials will continue to educate the public on the issue, he said, through meetings with homeowners associations and possibly public forums.
"I think we can do a decent job educating the people," he said. "Once we explain (the situation), I think they will understand and hopefully will give us support and help spread the word."
Chief Gable said, with the growth the township is experiencing, it is important to meet the 2005 deadline and make the project a priority.