Total bond amount will be less than originally approved
By Hayleigh Gowans
Staff Writer
A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Manlius Fire Station on the corner of Enders Road and Route 92 in the town of Manlius was held on Sept. 8, and local dignitaries, members of the fire department and representatives from the construction and design firms for the project were on hand to celebrate the occasion.
“It’s been a long process, but we appreciate all of the work put in by the fire committee and everyone else involved to finally make it happen,” said Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall.
According to construction manager Donald Hathaway, of Construction Associates LLC., some work has already been done on the site.
“As you can see, we’re pretty well into excavation here. We’ve located bedrock that’s existing and you’ll start seeing some more work go in on the bedrock,” said Hathaway. “Concrete is going to be put in in the near future, and grading of parking lots and embankments will start, so we’re pretty well in motion.”
Whorrall said they hope the fire station can open by the end of 2017, and it will replace the two existing fire stations located on Stickely Drive and Pompey Hill Road, which were in need of many major renovations to meet current federal and state regulations.
One fact that some taxpayers in the fire district may be glad to hear is the bond amount that will be submitted is about $500,000 less than what was approved in March 2015.
Citizens in the village of Manlius voted by a small margin in March 2015 to approve a $10.8 million bond resolution to construct a new fire station with an official vote of 266 to 243.
On the Sept. 6 meeting of the Manlius Village Board, Village Clerk Martha Dygert said the construction of the capital project has been estimated to be a total of $9.8 million, including construction, furnishings, possible change orders and radio and exhaust equipment. She suggested to the board that they submit a serial bond for $10.2 million to leave a cushion for costs of the project, which is about $500,000 less than the original $10.8 million bond amount.
“If anything is unspent for the capital project, it’s obligated by law to become a debt service fund and can only be used for payment of the debt service for that project,” said Dygert. “The worst case scenario is we only spend $9.8 million, but we can use the remaining amount to help defray the tax rate increase to taxpayers.”
Trustees voted in favor of submitting serial bonds for the amount of $10.2 million.
Updates to the fire station project will be periodically documented by the Manlius Fire Department, and can be found at manliusfire.com.
