The Point Lookout and Lido Fire District recently requested a $7 million bond to renovate their firehouses that were heavily damaged during Hurricane Sandy. However, some residents are not happy with the request, saying it is too expensive.
Other residents are not happy with the project’s proposal to demolish the Ye Olde Firehouse, which has been there for 82 years and has historic value for the area.
The project would expand the district’s Main Firehouse from about 5,000 square feet to about 10,700 square feet. The Lido Firehouse will be expanded to about 8,000 square feet from about 2,200 square feet if the proposal passes. Both of these buildings are over 45 years old.
Meanwhile, the Ye Olde Firehouse would be demolished to make way for a new command center.
Although all three buildings were heavily damaged during Sandy, Ye Olde Firehouse was the only building rendered unusable after the storm hit. Officials said that maintaining the 82-year-old firehouse is not economically feasible.
The project would cost a total of $7.5 million, with $500,000 coming from capital reserves. According to a report from Newsday, the bill would add about $165 worth of taxes per year for a home with a market value of $600,000. Residents would pay for the bill over the course of 23 years.
Although some residents are opposing the bill, others said that it is important to maintain the firehouses. "This is not a lot of money… this is about life and death," Lido Beach resident Mike Fichtelman said in the report from Newsday.
Others say that the bill is simply too much money, and that the fire district should have a back-up plan if the proposal does not pass.
Lido and Point Lookout residents will vote on the proposal on July 9. The vote will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Main Firehouse and the Lido Firehouse.
[Source: Newsday]