IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — Voters approved a new firehouse for the Saint Paul Boulevard Fire District on Tuesday, passing a proposal that failed back in December.
The vote was 840 for the new firehouse, 435 against.
The department’s Fire Chief, Ken Stavalone, said the new upgrades would provide firefighters with better health and safety standards and expanded facilities for more crews.
Neighbor reactions
Irondequoit neighbors tell us why they voted for the new firehouse.
“My daughter and I were saved by the jaws of life in a car accident. And I would like the equipment to be up to date. I think it’s a very reasonable request,” Cynthia Roe said.
Of the six voters Kowalski interviewed Tuesday afternoon, she was one of five that voiced support.
“These guys and women are risking their lives every day potentially, and I think they deserve the best that they can have,” Barbara Kerber said.
“The firehouse that you can see here has been here for 40 years,” Nancy Demarkis-Tese said.
Chief concerns
“We need to have a separation for the women and men. We need the new showers that will take away contaminants. I don’t want our firemen to be catching things from stuff that they get exposed to,” Constance Stolz said.
It’s reasons like that Chief Stavalone says they need these upgrades.
“A lot of the modern standards for fire departments, a lot focus around cancer prevention and making, cancer in the firehouses [less dangerous] for our firefighters. What a new firehouse would provide us proper decontamination zone. So we’re not tracking any of those carcinogens into the main living areas of the firehouse,” Stavalone said.
Stavalone said they were able to get the average annual cost of the firehouse improvements for taxpayers down from $62 per year to $44 per year, thanks to an anticipated $1.8 million federal grant.
“Even if the grant funding doesn’t come, we’ll do whatever we can to scale back to meet those numbers, because we’re not going to lie to our residents,” Stavalone said.
Hesitant residents
Still, voter Mary Garfield said she’s not sure about the tax increase.
“Our assessments keep going up every year. So the tax dollars will keep increasing as well. I understand that there are a lot of needs that the firehouse needs. And I do get that. I’m just not sure it needs to be as big as they’ve determined,” Garfield said.
Construction is expected to cost just under $22 million and begin as soon as later this year. The new construction is expected to last 50 years.
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