The entire project is expected to cost $8 million when also including the cost of project design, utilities, furniture, fixtures, equipment, a temporary fire station and other expenses, city spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said.

Given the $800,000 overage, City Manager Dave Kiff thought it best to return the project to the council for another look, Finnigan said. The council originally approved it in November 2015.

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The council could put the project out for another bid or change its design or scale, Finnigan added.

City officials don't know yet when the library and fire station -- nicknamed the "fibrary" -- will get on a council agenda. However, council members are likely to discuss it during their Jan. 14 goal-setting session, Finnigan said.

While county commissioners agreed Tuesday night to purchase a $450,000 site for the Laurel Canyon area station, there is no plan at this time for a downtown Canton fire station.

County Manager Jerry Cooper told commissioners at their meeting Tuesday night that the former downtown station would not be used when the county consolidation is complete at the first of the year.

Cooper said Chief Prather and his team have a plan of action to provide services without the Canton station in use, but he did not give specifics of the plan.

The downtown fire station on East Main Street in the former Post Office building has issues with asbestos abatement among other problems, county officials said.

The county had planned to lease the building from Canton for five years, and officials say that could still happen, but not without the city making significant improvements to the station.

"Per the Intergovernmental Agreement, the downtown fire station was only going to be 'leased' by Cherokee County, with the city of Canton maintaining ownership," Cherokee Fire Chief Tim Prather told the Tribune Wednesday. "In a nutshell, the building is in need of significant repair and updates."

Prather said although there have been some repair/upgrades to the building, it still has some asbestos abatement pending as well as leaks to the building needing repaired.

Town officials plan to present a warrant article at the annual Town Meeting this spring to fund the design of a new Fire Station 2, which would be sited on a small undeveloped parcel near the high school.

Town staff recently held a pair of neighborhood meetings with residents of A Street to discuss plans, which call for a roughly 8,000-square-foot building.

The firehouse would be tucked between a wastewater pumping station on A Street and a parking lot used by high school juniors. Members of the School Committee voted Dec. 6 to relinquish ownership of the land, transferring control of the 2-acre parcel to the Board of Selectmen for municipal use.

"The action allow(s) us to have the confidence to expend further funds in exploring preliminary design and site planning that will form the basis for further engagement with the neighborhood," Town Manager Bob Halpin wrote in a recent notice to selectmen.

Built in the 1890s, the existing Saxonville fire station on Watson Place is home to Engine 2 and rotating crews of four firefighters. Officials have planned since the 1960s to replace the structure, which features a concrete bay floor that is too small to house modern fire trucks.

The town used "Band-Aid" repairs to keep the station running, but the building is reaching the point where it's no longer structurally sound, Fire Chief Joseph Hicks said. Losing the station could significantly hamper public safety, Hicks said, since it would take firefighters more than four minutes to reach destinations in Saxonville from the nearest stations.