Falls Village's new firehouse lags, costs rise as state drags feet

FALLS VILLAGE — The process of building and financing a new firehouse for the town is chugging along. But it has been slowed down by a bureaucratic snag associated with a state grant.

“We’re sort of in limbo at the moment,� said Curt Mechare, the former fire chief who is the new head of the building committee of the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department. “We’ve spent six weeks doing paperwork for the state.�

About two years ago the department membership approved a plan, originally estimated to cost $1.5 million, to build a new facility on 7 acres of land on Route 7 donated several years ago by the town.

The fire department had already secured a $250,000 state grant from the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) in 2004.

A state check for $50,000 finally arrived earlier this year and much of it went toward fees for the architect, engineers and site preparation. But fire department officials said last year the state misfiled the application.

That means the town, which was applying for the STEAP grant on behalf of the department, missed critical deadlines for subsequent phases of the application, said First Selectman Pat Mechare, (who is Curt Mechare’s wife).

Curt Mechare said the price tag for the new facility will no doubt be higher than originally estimated, but he declined to guess how much.

 Increases in the price of steel and fuel, for example, will push the price higher, as will the discovery of ledge that will require on-site blasting.

A visit to the site reveals it looks considerably different than it did a year ago. Logs from the trees that were cleared lay near the existing entrance to the property from Route 7. Large rocks that were removed are scattered around a bulldozer. In addition to the blasting, Curt Mechare said fill will have to be put in to level out a 6-foot-wide swath between Route 7 and the main portion of the property.

Meanwhile, Pat Mechare has been busy for the last six weeks completing the grant extension application, which she said rivals the length and complexity of the original grant application itself. By the end of this week, she expects to have the extension application completed and forwarded to the state Department of Public Safety, which is administering this particular STEAP grant.

The existing firehouse is downtown near the Falls Village Inn. It is on two floors, and at 3,528 square feet, it is far too small for the needs of a modern fire department. At 7,380 square feet, the new facility will more than double the space the department currently has.

Having everything on one floor will also make it a far more practical venue for an emergency shelter.

There will be space for 10 vehicles in seven bays with entry from two sides. While the Falls Village department has no ladder truck, the gabled ends of the new firehouse will be high enough to accommodate the ladder from the Canaan Fire Company when it comes to Falls Village on standby.

Plans also call for a kitchen and two offices, along with meeting, storage and mechanical rooms.

As a private company, the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department does not have taxing authority, so it could not hold a town meeting or referendum to issue bonds for a portion of the project’s cost. But the company could approach the town and ask for assistance along those lines.

Fire department officials have also said if a townwide vote was held to finance the new firehouse, the fire department would likely forfeit ownership of the new facility.

Curt Mechare could not say when the facility would be completed — not only because of the grant situation but because of the uncertain nature of fundraising and bonding.

“It’s a great spot,� Curt Mechare said of the new site. “I wish I could say it had gone faster.�