Bids due on remodel plan for second fire station

To compensate for loss of those two bays, a new bay would be added to the south of the building, which already has two bays, adding 1,000 square feet and pushing the south wall another 20 feet further south. In all, the remodeled facility would have three fire bays.

Added to the bays themselves would be a small fitness room, a

second bathroom, a decontamination room and a laundry area.

“I’m just hoping the bids come in within our cost estimates,” said MCFR Chief Bob Palmer. “If it is, we‘ll obviously be able to make a good recommendation to the board on moving forward.”

But, in case the numbers don’t come in optimally, the district is also asking for alternate bids that would include a smaller version of the project.

The smaller version would include the refurbishing of the two north bays into living quarters, but would defer the construction of the new bay to the south.

“If we did run into significant budgetary issues we could actually not do the addition initially if that was the case, but we would do it in the future,” he said.

The renovations to the facility would include moving a communication tower some 40 to 50 feet south. The tower is called a public safety answering point and serves as a means of backup communication for area agencies.

The money comes from funds paid to The Dalles and Wasco County by Design LLC as part of a tax abatement agreement on construction of a new data storage center at the Google campus in The Dalles.

From an initial payment to city and county of $1.2 million, $484, 000 was earmarked for the fire district.

Because the money came from the city and county, the fire district will have to get their approval to move forward on the project once it has bids.

The conversion of Station 2 into a manned station has been on the fire district’s radar for some time. The district’s insurance rating was downgraded in 2008, in part because it had only one manned station. The decreased rating has translated into higher insurance costs for homeowners and businesses. Restoring that rating is a key factor in the remodel project.