The Town Council approved a development agreement Monday with East West Partners and rezoned an acre of town-owned land at the corner of Hamilton and Prestwick roads for the Station at East 54. The council also authorized staff to finalize a business agreement with the developer.

The business agreement includes provisions that will allow the town to keep the title to both the fire station and the land under it.

Business agreement talks could wrap up by late July, interim Fire Chief Matt Sullivan said. Construction could start quickly, since the developer wants to move in tenants by 2018. The fire station would be relocated temporarily to a vacant UNC fraternity house on Finley Golf Course Road.

“If it comes to the point where we can’t make this deal work, (or) it comes to the point that the money just doesn’t work out, then we’ll not do it,” Sullivan said.

“I’m committed first of all as a steward of this community’s safety – that’s my primary job. I’m also committed as a steward of our resources and trust,” he said. “I understand it’s a huge project, so before we execute it, we’ll make sure it’s in your best interests.”

Those interests range from providing the town with a combined fire and EMS station at a lower cost, he said, to giving employees a better work environment and generating roughly $40,000 a year in addditional tax revenues.

The Hamilton Road station – Fire Station No. 2 – was built in the 1950s and is the first of three fire stations to be replaced. The others are on Elliott Road and Weaver Dairy Road.

On behalf of his Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Soarway Foundation and the Fire Station Project, luxury watchmaker Michael Kobold visited the South Margaret Street station to personally pick up the retired truck.

According to Kobold, the Soarway Foundation was originally created in 2015 to reduce risk and better prepare the landlocked Himalayan country in the event of a natural disaster. Soarway's efforts in Nepal are led by U.S ambassador Scott S. DeLisi.

Kobold's Fire Station Project is an effort in conjunction with the Soarway Foundation.

Known for his expert watchmaking, Kobold is a Carnegie Mellon University graduate whose timepieces have attracted celebrities like explorer Ralnulph Fiennes, former president Bill Clinton and late Sopranos star James Gandolfini. Kobold Expedition Tools is inspired by Kobold's love for traveling and mountain climbing, in particular.

When Kobold's wife was unresponsive during the couple's second scaling of Mount Everest, two Nepali sherpas came to her rescue, saving her life. Out of gratitude, Kobold taught the sherpas watchmaking and opened a Kobold Watch Company facility in the Kathmandu Valley, hoping the men could continue to provide for their families and leave their dangerous jobs of mountaineering behind.

Burritt says the cause originated as an electrical problem in the Rescue Unit located inside the building.

Newport Fire responded and the flames and smoke was contained quickly, but not before damaging all of the Poland trucks to some degree, and the building itself as well.

"It's still unclear how much damage has been sustained," said Chief Burritt. "We'll be evaluating the equipment and structural damage over the next several days."

Then, a turn for the better... an entire community of firefighters came together in a show of solidarity to help them out.

Volunteers from Newport, Schuyler, East Herkimer, Frankfort, Frankfort Center, Mohawk, Salisbury, and many others spent hours cleaning up equipment this evening.

Chief Burritt said Poland's firefighters are out of commission for at least the next 24-36 hours, but after that, they will be volunteering at nearby Newport, Deerfield, Remsen and Barneveld agencies.