A misunderstanding about cost estimates to build a new fire station in east McComb to replace one deemed unfit for service has delayed work on the project.
McComb Fire Chief Stephen Adams asked selectmen Tuesday to approve an agreement with Neel-Schaffer Engineering to draw up plans for the design, construction, engineering and inspection of a new Fire Station No. 3 on East Michigan Avenue for a fee not to exceed $84,300.
Adams applied for a grant through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to build a stronger fire station than city accounts could afford, but the city did not receive the grant. Now the city must use its own funds and the fire department’s approximately $275,000 insurance rebate money to build a new station.
When the station was discussed in previous city board work sessions, Adams had estimated rebuilding a new station on the city-owned property behind the existing station would cost approximately $300,000 in city funds. This estimate was conceived with the thought that the grant funds would also be applied to the building.
“We had talked about building a $300,000 building, OK?” Mayor Whitney Rawlings said. “And now it’s going to cost me $84,000 to design, engineer, construct and inspect a fire station that’s going to cost $300,000?”
At the meeting Tuesday, Adams gave selectmen a preliminary design to build a new station with a cost estimate of $125 per square foot. Adams said at that rate, the proposed 4,500-square foot station would cost $562,000.
“Hopefully we can do it for less than that, but I don’t know that,” Adams said. “I’ve got to get to that point.”
After Rawlings reiterated his concerns over the cost, Adams took aim at the city’s recent decision to spend about $250,000 on three new press boxes at the McComb Sports Park.
“Nothing against the press boxes we just built (at the McComb Sports Park), but look at that overall cost. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have built them, but look at the square footage versus what it ended up costing us,” he said.
Selectman Tommy McKenzie, an engineer with Clark Construction, was caught off-guard by the proposed plan and said $84,000 is a lot to dedicate to a project with no concrete budget.
“(The press boxes are) a perfect example,” McKenzie said. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen right here. We don’t even know what we’re going to spend on it. This is totally backward in the construction world.”
After a round of questions from selectmen and Rawlings, Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson moved to table the item until the details could be discussed and selectmen could weigh the options before the vote.
The board voted 5-1 to table the item for further discussion, with Selectwoman Tammy Witherspoon opposing after she implored her fellow selectmen to visit the station and see the conditions firsthand. She emphasized the point by noting the condition of Fire Station No. 2 on Harrison Avenue, which was in need of new furniture, paint and carpeting.
“If you go to this fire station, it is literally falling apart,” said Witherspoon, whose Ward 3 covers east McComb. “We knew that when the previous chief left. He told us it’s really not fit for firemen to be there. It’s just terrible. This is serious, and we need to get started. And this is a start.”
But while Johnson wanted to postpone the discussion, he and McKenzie, who seconded the motion, also said the project is important for the city and the residents of east McComb.
“That fire station is really important,” Johnson said. “It’s the only one across the tracks to take care of the people in that area.”
Adams said that after weeks of personal planning, he was hoping to get the thumbs-up from the board to proceed with the fire station plans, and after Tuesday he is disappointed he’ll have to wait another two weeks before a vote.
“I’m just trying to get something rolling,” Adams said. “I know it’s going to be two more weeks before I can get back on here, so I’m just trying to get something going.”
