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County advances design and planned procurement for two new fire stations; cost pressures noted
Summary
County staff briefed commissioners on near‑final designs for new northern and McNew area fire stations, assessed an approximate $2.1 million funding gap driven by inflation and water‑line infrastructure, and outlined an 18–24 month construction timeline.
County staff presented updated designs and cost estimates for two new Eddy County fire stations — Fire Station No. 1 (Atoka/Tumbleweed area) and Fire Station No. 3 (McNew) — and told commissioners they expect to advertise both projects for competitive construction bids.
County project staff said the Nautoka/Tumbleweed Station No. 1 design is near complete: “This is gonna be a 17,000 approximate square foot station,” the presenter said, describing a metal‑frame building with four double apparatus bays, living and sleeping areas and workout space. The current project summary shows a total project need of about $11.3 million and an existing fire‑services account balance of $10.95 million; staff said the program is roughly $2.1 million short of the opinion of probable cost and that water‑line installation to connect to Artesia city water contributed materially to the increase.
For Fire Station No. 3 (McNew), staff described an approximately 12,000‑square‑foot metal building with five double bays on property purchased by the county; that project’s estimated budget was roughly $6.5 million with a current estimated delta of about $550,000 depending on bid results. Staff said the McNew site has a well and plans to use on‑site water storage for fire service needs.
Staff said the plan is to finalize the designs, advertise the two projects concurrently with a 30‑day bid period, and return to the commission with actual bids and any necessary budget adjustments at award. Estimated construction timelines given by staff were about 18–24 months for the larger Atoka/Tumbleweed station and about 18 months for the McNew project, depending on lead times and market conditions.
Commissioners asked about the sources of the budget deltas. Staff cited general construction inflation and the cost of the water‑line work as the principal drivers. Commissioners were told the county will return with bid results and, if necessary, requests for additional appropriation at the award stage.
No contract awards or budget increases were approved at the briefing; staff will proceed to advertise and competitively bid the projects unless the commission directs otherwise.
