Farmingdale to expand parking, upgrade fire equipment with $1.5 million in bond borrowing

The Village of Farmingdale will use bonds totaling about $1.5 million to expand one of its parking lots and to make upgrades at its fire department.

About $1 million will go toward parking lot expansion, while nearly $540,000 will be used for new firefighter equipment and remote controls for garage doors at the fire department, according to village documents.

Bond borrowing was approved this spring by the village board for the projects. The parking lot work is expected to take place this summer. 

Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said up to 24 spaces will be added to a lot that's a short walk from Main Street in the vibrant downtown.

"We [have] 5,000 people on a Friday and Saturday night; the No. 1 complaint is there's not enough parking," he said.

Earlier this month, the village closed on a deal to acquire a house and property at 141 Division St. with a $700,000 bond that had been approved last month. A second bond of $300,000 will be used to demolish the vacant single-family home sometime in August. That bond also will go toward constructing the new parking spaces, which will be a part of the larger lot — Parking Lot 3 — next to the property.

Lot 3 is the second largest of nine lots in the village.

"We have a little over 1,600 parking spaces, but when we had an opportunity to buy the building, knock it down and get approximately 24 spaces right in the heart of our downtown — it was a no-brainer," Ekstrand said.

Village Administrator Brian Harty said the new spaces are predicted to be in place by mid-September.

Harty said the bonds were funded through levying tax and parking meter revenue. He said the property made a seamless addition as it was partially jutting into the existing lot.

Firefighter upgrades

Farmingdale also will use $534,290 to purchase new breathing apparatuses called Scott packs for its firefighters.

Scott packs are compressed-air tanks paired with breathing masks worn by firefighters to avoid inhaling smoke. According to the mayor, the equipment needs to be replaced around every 15 years and the current equipment's expiration date is approaching.

  Ekstrand said the village will replace all Scott pack equipment including goggles, breathing masks and harnesses. He said most of the money set aside for the equipment is going toward the purchase of 100 compressed-air tanks. 

Ekstrand said the packs were last replaced through a federal grant secured by then-Rep. Peter King. This time around, the village applied for several grants and was denied, Ekstrand said, leaving trustees to shore up the funds from the village itself.

"We're investing in our fire department and the safety of the public at the same time," Harty said. "It's a very worthwhile investment to keep our volunteers fully equipped in a very good way."

The Scott packs will be purchased from safety equipment provider MES, according to village documents. 

New remote access

The village is also spending about $4,850 to purchase garage door remotes for each of its vehicles, according to documents, enabling the driver to open and close any of the station's four doors.

Currently, the electric doors are opened with a button in the fire house that's pushed by either a dispatcher or the driver, who has to get out of the truck to do so. 

The mayor said sometime in the beginning of August, the remotes are set to be installed in all eight vehicles at the fire station, at 361 Main St.