Hewitt council authorizes repairs and replacement work on fire station bay doors after video shows failure

The Hewitt City Council authorized the city manager to proceed with repairs and partial replacement of the fire station bay doors after staff presented video footage showing a door failure. The council approved the motion by voice vote; the mayor announced the motion carried 6 to 0.

City staff described the incident captured on video, noting that the fire bay door panels are heavy, the existing tracks are two-inch residential-style tracks, and a failure could have caused serious injury if someone had been in proximity. Staff presented two cost options discussed at the meeting: repairing the single damaged door under the current configuration (staff cited a repair estimate of approximately $48,095) or replacing the four front doors and upgrading to three-inch tracks, three-inch rollers and aluminum panels (an estimated $25,198 was cited to replace all four front doors and remove most glass panels). Staff proposed using remaining funds from a 2022 Certificate of Obligation (CO) to cover the lower-cost replacement option.

Council members and the fire chief discussed the condition of the four rear doors, which have lighter construction and one glass panel per door, and whether to include them in the immediate work. The chief and staff said the rear doors have experienced wear but have not failed catastrophically; staff recommended proceeding with the front-door replacements immediately and returning with research and bids for the rear doors.

Councilmember McCallie moved to authorize the city manager to proceed; Councilmember Potter seconded. The vote carried and the motion was recorded as approved 6–0. Council asked staff to return with additional quotes and further information on possible retrofit options for the rear doors, including the higher-cost option of installing bi-fold doors that would require structural steel and an estimated cost exceeding $100,000 to retrofit the existing building.