Building Committee Updates


The Building Committee is made up of 5 members: Jeff Varney (Fire Department President), Ervie Ferguson (Fire Chief), Pete Cunningham (EMS Secretary/Treasurer), Brett McAbee (Rural Board Vice-President), and Todd Jonas (Rural Board Secretary)

The committee is currently advertising for a grant administrator.

The Block Grants were released and Ansley won a $250,000 grant for their firehall.

This committee has been working since 2003 on this project. It started out looking at rebuilding on the current site. The committee traveled around the state looking at various fire barns like St. Edwards, Eustis, Wayne, Norfolk, and several others in order to gain ideas and learn from those that had just built new barns. Many ideas were shared on what to do as well as what not to do.

The committee did cost analysis on different options, hosted 2 different open house events for the public, and hired of a grant writer. Cost analysis with demolition and rebuilding in the current spot with a 4250 sq/ft building was just slightly less than it would cost to build a 7200 sq/ft barn on a site that needed limited dirt work. Water drainage on main street and roof slopes added more expense to a new building on Main Street. Also the committee learned that making a building length shorter and wider changes the roof and provides more square footage with a much cheaper cost per foot. The 2 public open houses were attended by 3 citizens and 2 newspapers. The grant writer's analysis said that with the New Orleans hurricane there were no grants available for us at this time and so there was no charge on her part.

In light of the high cost of building on the current location, the committee went back to work looking for a better location to build. They set goals on possible locations: Safety, Access, Location, and current building concerns. They wanted a place that would provide a safe place to drive in and out of when responding to a rescue call. Also it needed to have some parking for responders and have access to the city and the highways to provide the fastest response to patients, as well as a good water supply and ability to load a truck faster than what we currently have. It was determined that we wanted to see a new fire hall that would help enhance the image of the town, so this had the committee looking at locations along Main Street, Highway 2 and Highway 183. With trains and a double track system, access that allowed use of the viaduct was also a priority. The committee also did not want to leave an abandoned building on Main Street.

Several locations were looked at and the committee ranked them and presented the top 10 to the rural board. The committee attended a grant writing class in Kearney. This opened the door to new options that the committee pursued. They have begun work with the city council to hire a grant administrator. Miller and Associates has guided the department through the LMI process as well as preparing for the CDBG Grant Application. There are several steps needed to complete the grant process but having a low to moderate income (LMI) rating for the rural district was needed before they could proceed. A location also needed to be found as well, so after several locations were crossed off the list and more added the committee recommended a location by Custer's last stop that was owned by Amsberry's. The rural board met with Amsberry's and negotiated a purchase options on this property. The LMI study was a tougher task as there was no available rural district resident list that could be obtained from the court house or 911 centers that was without errors. Mr. Fernau and his Ansley High School Students took it as a project to map out and produce a valid list for the study. This list was given to Miller and Associates and the LMI survey was randomized and sent back to the committee. This survey had to have a very high response and so the members of the department took these surveys door to door and hand delivered them and collected. The surveys were sent to Miller and Associates and calculated. Pete reported that the results of the LMI study show that we qualify for a CBDG grant.

(3/3/08)THERE WILL BE A COMMUNITY NEEDS MEETING AT THE COMMUNITY HALL TUESDAY MARCH 11TH AT 6:30PM TO HEAR PUBLIC INPUT ON A PROPOSED NEW FIRE HALL AND WELL AS OTHER NEEDS FOR THE COMMUNITY.



Special THANKS to all those who have or are serving on this committee along the way. (Ervie Ferguson, George Bundy, Glen Ritchie, Jeff Varney, Melvina Bundy, Mike Bailey, Pete Cunningham, Todd Jonas, and Brett McAbee.)

Here is a proposed design below.