Marion moving forward on new fire, police facilities

Marion moving forward on new fire, police facilities

City officials trying to keep costs down on renovations

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion may finally be seeing some progress on its plans to renovate Fire Station No. 2 and for a new evidence storage facility for the police department.

The city paid F& F Construction Co., Inc. $45,000 to design the buildings, but the proposals they have submitted have been too costly and there has been little to no action in over a year.

Mayor Frank Fogleman said he recently received answers back to some questions he had about the designs from F& F and that they should have some new cost estimates and drawings by November.

“It is progressing,” Fogleman said. “They brought me the information and I have passed it on to (Fire Chief) Woody (Wheeless) and (Police Chief) Gary (Kelley). I think we ought to know a number before the end of the year, possibly before Thanksgiving.”

F& F’s original plans called for adding two additional bays to Fire Station No. 2 and expanding the sleeping quarters and kitchen area at a cost of $900,000.

Fogleman said the price tag was too high. F& F came back with some cost saving modifications which dropped the price to $680,000, which was still out of the city’s price range.

“We keep getting high prices and we keep trying to bring that down,” Fogleman said. “We’ve gone through several renditions on the fire station. They have come back with lower numbers, but it is still more than either Woody or I wanted to spend on Fire Station No. 2.”

Fogleman said in the meantime, the city has since gotten out of providing its own ambulance service and they don’t need to add on as much space. The city sold its three ambulances which has freed up three storage bays and the fire department no longer needs the additional bays in the new plans.

The new plan calls for expanding the north side of the building and adding a wing to extend the day room and enlarging the sleeping quarters and kitchen, and building a 25by-25 foot storage building on the back quarter of the property.

Fogleman said that should get the price down to around $350,000 to $400,000.

“Both chiefs seem satisfied with what they saw and we can now get a price,” Fogleman said.

Councilman Kelly O’Neal, who chairs the police and fire committee, said the delay is unacceptable and that the city should fire F& F and turn the project over to Wheeless.

“Its been over 15 months,” O’Neal said. “I think F& F doesn’t have time for us.

And the price they are giving us, they have been high on everything. And it’s not what the firemen want. For that kind of money, you should be able to build a new station.”

F& F built Fire Station No.

3 which O’Neal said has had plumbing problems and was never any good.

“The firemen don’t like it.

It has had problems with the plumbing and the heating and cooling,” O’Neal said. “They are constantly complaining about it.”

O’Neal blames Fogleman for the delay because he has controlled the entire process and not kept anyone on the city council informed.

“Frank is entirely in charge of it with the department heads,” O’Neal said.

In fact, O’Neal said he attended one of the design meetings and was told by Fogleman that he wasn’t welcome at the meetings.

“I was at one of the first meetings and Frank informed me it was none of my business and that I was not invited to the meetings,” O’Neal said. “And the first plans they showed us a building that was 40 feet deep and 120 feet long. It wasn’t even deep enough for the equipment we have today. They (F& F) have been totally inattentive to details.”

O’Neal made a motion at Oct. 3 special city council meeting to stop using F& F but could not get a second.

“Nobody seconded it because they just don’t care,” O’Neal said. “This should be totally up front. Why even have a council or committee meetings if we are not kept in the loop or told anything?”

Fogleman said he doesn’t believe F& F has been inattentive or too busy.

“He (O’Neal) thinks we should move on,” Fogleman said. “But I told everybody that I had talked to F& F and that we would have more information forthcoming.”

Wheeless said he shares some of O’Neal’s frustrations with the delay.

“I suggested we start over,” Wheeless said. “But we entered into an agreement with F& F a year ago and we haven’t even turned a single shovel of dirt. I don’t know if it is because they have been busy. It doesn’t matter to me whether I take charge of it or whoever does. But the entire process has dragged out a while. Its been delayed over and over because of the prices we have been given. They are just way out of our budget.

We would have hoped the project had been further along. I hoped it would have been completed.”

Wheeless said the newest set of drawings are in line with what the city has been asking for and can afford.

“It’s what we talked about several months ago,” Wheeless said. “They actually showed us drawings of what we were talking about physically at that location.

All we are waiting on now

is a price.”

By Mark Randall