New EMA facility OK’d
The Montgomery County Emergency Management Commission voted to advance plans for a new emergency management office at the Red Oak Fire Station.
Members of the commission and city officials have been meeting for the past several weeks to determine an exact location on the site to build a new facility, which would house Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman’s office, a meeting room, and vehicle storage for EMA and surplus Red Oak Fire Department vehicles.
Talks initially focused on the building, which is a pre-fabricated steel building, be located on the north side of the existing fire station. However, after thorough examination, the east side was considered more appropriate.
“We went back to the drawing board and came to find that the building would work better on the east side of the fire station. The cost of the entire building was cheaper by locating it on the north side.,” Hamman said.
Red Oak City Administrator Brad Wright added that drainage issues on the ground of the north side of the fire station also contributed to plans to build on the east side.
The building will be 60 by 100 ft., and in addition to the office and meeting room, will include two ADA accessible restrooms, storage, and two drive-through truck bays for vehicles.
“It has nothing elaborate, but it’s very functional, and has vestibules and multiple restrooms for if there’s a training meeting,” said Tim Tieg, representing the engineering firm Snyder and Associates.
Additional concrete work may be considered depending on the bid amounts for constructing the facility.
The estimated cost of the building and site work totals $597,200. The EMA will pay $449,925 and the city would pay $147,275, if the council approves the plan.
“Brad and I went through and discussed the EMA’s obligations and the city’s obligations, and determined what the city’s use of the building would be, and determined the shares of the cost. I feel comfortable with the cost share, and feel that Brad has been more than fair with us,”” Hamman commented.
Wright added that he had spoken with Mayor Bill Billings and said Billings had been comfortable with the numbers also.
Estimates were higher than the commission originally planned. However, Tieg said the estimates were conservatively high.
“I spoke with contractors on similar projects. We haven’t gotten into extensive design work, and I’m hoping these bids are on the high side, even with the cost of steel going up,” said Tieg.
Currently three companies are interested in bidding for the project. With estimates higher than expected, Hamman said he’d met with representatives at Houghton State Bank, who proposed a loan with a 10-year fixed rate of 3.85 percent, and 15-years repayment, with the rate capped at 7 percent after 10 years on the remaining principle. The monthly amount would be $3,307, and the annual payment would be $39,690.
While having leeway on the repayments, Hamman said he planned to pay the loan before that.
“It is my goal and intent to pay $50,000 or more a year. Realistically, unless something catastrophic happens, I would plan to have the loan paid off in eight years or less. There’s no penalty for paying it off early,” Hamman advised.
The plan will be presented to the Red Oak City Council at their meeting April 17. In approved by the council, the project will then be sent out for bid. The bids and contractor contract will be presented to the city council and EMA commission.