Hearing set for Dix Hills $20M firehouse plan

The Dix Hills Fire District wants to borrow some $20 million to build a firehouse, maintenance building and training tower, among other projects, allowing the district to replace the 55-year-old firehouse officials say is outdated.

Approval of the bond would cost the average homeowner an estimated $169 more a year for 30 years in taxes.

District officials, who are holding a public hearing on the proposal Tuesday night, will seek voter approval in March.

"Nothing we are proposing here is excessive in any way," said Dix Hills Fire Commissioner Philip H. Tepe. Other commissioners noted there are "no saunas, no steam rooms."

While Dix Hills commissioners said they are sensitive to the current difficult economic climate, they also said the recession helps by keeping down both labor costs and interest rates for bonds.

"Is the economy tough? Absolutely," Tepe said. "But if we do this a year or two years from now, the cost will go up."

The firehouse would cost about $11.2 million. The bond also includes $3 million for a maintenance building and $5 million for other maintenance items on the property, such as $500,000 for a training tower.

The 31,400-square-foot firehouse, plus a 4,600-square-foot basement, would house a large meeting room that would also be used for functions, a weight-training room, two kitchens, an expanded bay area and a new dispatch room.

A district analysis found that fixing and modifying the existing building would cost about $7.6 million, so it made sense to demolish that and build a new one for another $3.6 million, Tepe said.

The district - which has 170 volunteers, covers 24 square miles and answers about 2,400 calls per year - has outgrown its facilities, commissioners said. The original building, where the trucks are housed, was built in 1956, and new trucks would not be able to fit under the 10-foot-high bay doors. Often, volunteers need to move one truck to get to another, said Tepe and other commissioners who gave a tour of the building. The firehouse is not handicapped accessible, and the roof has outlived its life span, they said. The new building will be energy-efficient under new state guidelines, saving money in heating and air-conditioning costs, they said.

Public hearings will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. and on Feb. 15 at noon, both at the main headquarters on 115 E. Deer Park Rd. in Dix Hills. A Jan. 25 community meeting was attended by about 30 people, fire district officials said.

The vote on the bond is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. March 8, also at headquarters.