Construction of the new Highlands Fire Department has begun, but the weather could effect how long it takes to be completed.
In January, the construction was delayed due to a paperwork error when the town tried to close the loan for construction.
Highlands Fire chief Ryan Gearhart said construction is a little behind, but work is getting done.
“We are pretty much on schedule, just a little bit behind,” Gearhart said. “Right now, they are working on underground drainage, putting in boxes for the curb and gutter draining. They are building the retaining wall on the PNC Bank side. As soon as they are done with that, they will start on the Tate Property side.”
Weather permitting, Gearhart said they will start putting footers for the building the first week of July.
“They still have not given us a finished date,” Gearhart said. “Initially they said 14 months, but we had some bad dirt and it took a while for that to get mediated. Weather is really killing us. It is playing a huge factor in this whole thing. It seems like we take two steps forward and one step back because of the weather.”
Once the new building is up and the fire department moves, Gearhart said it will be nice to have all of their equipment in one area.
“Here, everything is kind of spread out,” Gearhart said. “We have the ladder truck and we had to build a separate building for it. So, if we need to use it, we have to run down there and unlock it, but with this new building all we will have to do is walk out into the bay area and everything will be there.”
Another commodity of the new building will be a bunk room for 24-hour firefighters.
“The bunk room is something that we have been wanting to do for a long time,” Gearhart said. “It is something that the town needs and the town deserves. If we could just get a couple months of dry weather then we will be in good shape.”
The new fire station will be located at 149 Franklin Road. The town previously purchased the land and approved a “not to exceed” construction estimate of $6.87 million for the new facility, which includes a $300,000 contingency. The funding for the new fire department was made possible by a two-cent fire tax increase during the 2019-20 budget year.