The Cornelius Town Board unanimously approved the expenditure of $204,092 to repair a Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue Department fire boat, corneliustoday.com reported. Funds will be transferred from the 2023 fiscal year budget general fund surplus in order to cover the cost of the repair.

Speaking with commissioners prior to the Feb. 6 board meeting, Fire Chief Guerry Barbee stated that the boat, built in 2010 and known as Fireboat 4, has been experiencing significant engine problems which could impact its ability to respond to emergencies, the report said.

Repairs were originally requested in 2019 but then everything came to a halt due to COVID. There was also an issue getting parts for the boat engines. When this approved work is done, the boat will be refurbished from stem to stern, according to Barbee, and it should last another 10-15 years, the report said.

It was announced at Monday’s trustees meeting that both of Liverpool Township’s new 2023 fire engines have arrived, morningjournalnews.com reported.

The engines, which will replace the 28-year-old trucks currently in use, will be provided to LaCroft and Dixonville, the two fire departments that provide service to the township, the report said.

The Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire Station 2 was emptied out in September when Hurricane Ian flooded the building. However, FEMA has one final inspection this week and then remodeling can begin, wmbfnews.com reported.

Hurricane Ian destroyed all the station’s appliances, knocked out electricity, drenched its drywall and ruined the floors, the report said.

Crews are currently operating from the fire station’s headquarters about five minutes down the road.

After FEMA’S final inspection Thursday, they’ll order supplies to remodel, the report said. Once those supplies come in, a fire official said it should only take about a month or so before the fire station is back up and running, according to the report.

Hopkinsville City Council took another step Tuesday night toward constructing the city’s fifth fire station, hoptownchronicle.org reported. 

Following a closed session to discuss property acquisition, council members voted unanimously to purchase a 10-acre parcel near the Walmart Distribution Center for $2.5 million from DDL 10, a company based in Illinois, the report said.

The site is just off Fort Campbell Boulevard on the southern edge of the city limits at 101 Walton Way. Mayor James R. Knight Jr. confirmed to Hoptown Chronicle that the city plans to construct a fire station there, according to the report. 

The site includes a one-story, brick building with 34,543 square foot of space divided among two conference rooms and 24 smaller offices, the report said.

Caroline Kubzansky
Chicago Tribune
(TNS)

Park Ridge aldermen gave preliminary approval Feb. 6 to the contractor Cordogan Clark & Associates to run architectural, design and construction management project services for the renovation of Park Ridge Fire Station 35, at Devon and Cumberland Avenues, at a Committee of the Whole meeting.

The price of the contract was $353,949, according to a memo about the contract prepared by city staff. The city had budgeted $300,000 for the item, Finance Director Chris Lipman said. However, that number may be slightly higher than what the project actually costs because the estimate includes contingencies, he said.

The city first issued a request for proposals in November 2022, Lipman told council members.

Lipman said staff was recommending Aurora-based Cordogan Clark for its grasp of the vision for the fire station renovation, its plans to ensure continuity of fire department operations and its inclusion of 200 hours of construction management in its bid.

Cordogan has also worked with the city on safety upgrades to City Hall, but Lipman said that process was “completely separate” from the project at the fire station.

He added that Cordogan Clark had “a pretty good concept of what this is going to look like” and that the company had pointed to a list of 40 prior projects they’d executed where they’d hewed closely to their cost estimates.

“Cordogan clearly had some knowledge of our past estimation of construction projects,” Lipman said.

Park Ridge approved a budget of $5.7 million over the next two years to upgrade the city’s two fire stations, which were built in 1969 and 1970.

Last year, when asked what specifically in Fire Stations 35 and 36 needs work, Park Ridge Fire Department Executive Officer Paul Lisowski told Pioneer Press, “in a nutshell, I would say everything.”

Station 35 is located at 901 Devon Avenue, while Station 36 sits at 1001 N. Greenwood, at the corner of Oakton Street.

Some of the most pressing concerns included accessibility to the fire stations for people with disabilities, protecting firefighters from toxic smoke and improving gender equity in the stations for women who work as firefighters, Lisowski said.

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