New Castle Fire District Failed to Address Long-Term Needs in Firehouse Plan
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By Veronica Ribeiro, Eric K. Hildenbrand and Lynne Lambert
New Castle Fire District No. 1 has scheduled an Apr. 25 referendum for a $15.2 million addition to its firehouse. As members of the Community Liaison Committee (CLC), a group that was created by the Board of Fire Commissioners (BOFC) to help promote the referendum, the undersigned urge you to vote against. This letter is not meant to represent the views of the entire CLC, and as such, we encourage you to seek out the opinions of other members.
We wholeheartedly and unanimously agree that our valued volunteer firefighters deserve better and safer conditions in which to work. Our concern is that this project will not best meet the future needs of our community and volunteers. We have seen no comprehensive long-term analysis that assures us that this is the right plan for the district. The undersigned consistently recommended to the commissioners that such analysis should be done and made available before scheduling this referendum.
A Master Plan would help answer important questions:
- Will the new addition to the firehouse be projected to serve the district’s needs in the future? A National Fire Protection Association study found that the number of volunteer firefighters in the U.S. dropped 30 percent from 1986 to 2020. Yet the current proposal does not examine alternative models such as a partial or fully paid department and only focuses on the needs of a full volunteer force.
- What are the pros and cons for building a new, stand-alone firehouse instead of the proposed addition? Why would we keep the old bays and the rest of the asbestos-ridden old building when a single new firehouse could incorporate all of the district’s needs? Millwood’s new firehouse is a good example of what can be done with 18,000 square feet of new construction, and it even includes space for community usage. Upon completion of the proposed addition, there will be a 30,000-square-foot building that will remain unoccupied most of the time.
- How will more housing or commercial development change our district’s fire protection needs? We already know to expect new residents at Chappaqua Crossing and the old Rite Aid property, but what about the governor’s proposed transit-oriented development plan?
- Wouldn’t it be prudent at this time to explore a possible merger of our fire district with Millwood? The town, school system and EMS are already combined. A merger may well provide savings and perhaps enable the districts to better leverage tax dollars by pooling equipment and staffing. Locking residents into a long-term bond will only limit the feasibility of merger in the future.
- Can anything be done about the disruptive siren? The loud, outdated siren system should be eliminated by updated technology for the sake of the firehouse’s immediate and long-suffering neighbors. This issue has been continually raised by residents, but there’s no remedy included in this referendum.
This article is in response to what we see as a lack of diligence by the Board of Fire Commissioners. Residents soundly rejected virtually this same proposal in 2016. Instead of using the seven years since the last vote to come up with a revised plan based on forward-looking analysis, the board thrust this same addition at us again. The money and time spent on a PR firm to market the referendum could have been better utilized by an assessment of our future fire district needs.
We agree with the board that there is an immediate need to improve the safety for our volunteers; however, some things can be done in the short-term while a Master Plan is being developed (e.g., purchasing additional turnout gear and arranging for ongoing and consistent professional cleaning of gear). Not having a Master Plan for our fire district’s needs risks us building an addition that will not serve us well in both the near and long term – a disservice to both our volunteer firefighters and taxpayers.
We urge the board to commission a comprehensive independent study of our district’s needs by a qualified consulting firm before we move forward on this critical decision.
Veronica Ribeiro, Eric K. Hildenbrand and Lynne Lambert are three members of the Community Liaison Committee and New Castle Fire District No. 1 residents.
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