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North Highlands Voters Say "Yes" to New Fire Hall
Construction to begin in March
by Mike Turton
By a vote of 332 to 190, residents of the North Highlands Fire District said "yes" to footing the bill for a new fire hall on Fishkill Road last Tuesday, August 14, 2007. In December, 2006, those same voters rejected a proposed 5.6 million dollar, 19,123 square foot fire station. Last week's favorable vote paved the way for construction of a 4.8 million dollar, 16,364 square foot facility.
George Lisikatos, Chairman of the North Highlands Board of the Board of Fire Commissioners, was ecstatic over the positive vote. "This is fantastic. We need this project," he said. Lisikatos pointed to two reasons why the vote was favorable this time around. "I think we took things a bit for granted last year. The 'no' vote really woke us up. We did a much better job of getting the word out this time. Trimming the cost was helpful too," he stated.
Fire commissioners hope that more than just the building will be new. "We think that having a new fire station will also breathe some new life into the department," said Fire District Vice Chairman John Van Tassel. "We hope to see some new faces," he added, referring to the department's ongoing need to recruit volunteers. The North Highlands Fire Department (NHFD) is a completely volunteer organization. Firefighters are not paid for their services. The campaign for public support of the new fire hall had emphasized that a new, well-equipped station would help the department to recruit new volunteers.
Bob Mitchell of Mitchell Associates Architects, the firm that designed the new building, indicated that work has already begun on preparing the documents needed to begin construction. "We hope to go to bids in January," he said. If all goes as planned, groundbreaking will take place in March, 2008. Because the work will be completed in stages, the existing fire hall will continue to operate during construction. Two new vehicle bays will be built first. Vehicles will then be moved into the new area while the old bays are gutted. A trailer will serve as the NHFD office during construction. Mitchell estimates that the new facility will be complete by May of 2009.
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