Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gloucester Volunteer Fire & Rescue urges board to finalize contract for new station
Summary
Volunteer leaders and the department’s building committee told supervisors the fire/rescue building plan is ready to go and urged the county to approve a contract so bids can be solicited and construction begin.
Representatives of Gloucester Volunteer Fire & Rescue pressed the Board of Supervisors Oct. 7 to finalize a county contract that would allow the volunteer department to move forward with construction of a new station on Main Street.
Bruce Sowell, president of Gloucester Volunteer Fire & Rescue, told the board that volunteers and a committee have completed architectural plans, addressed systems design (IT, security, exhaust), and that county staff had approved the building plans with site-plan comments received Oct. 2. “We are looking forward to working with our new board to serve the needs of the citizens of Gloucester County,” Sowell said, and asked supervisors to keep the project moving so the department can go to bid.
Joe Linderman, assistant chief of EMS and chair of the long-range building committee, said the committee had worked through detailed site-plan comments and anticipated a bid package by the end of the month. “We plan as part of the committee to have our bid package ready to go at the end of this month and ready to be out there with those guys so we can get shovels in the ground,” Linderman said, stressing concern about rising construction costs.
Speakers framed the request as the continuation of a multi-year conversation between the volunteer department and county staff and asked supervisors for timely action. The department said the building is in poor condition and that an approved contract would allow the county and the volunteers to secure bids and begin construction before further cost escalation.
No formal board action to approve a contract was recorded at the Oct. 7 meeting; the department’s speakers requested the board pursue the contract and noted they had delivered draft contract language and addressed technical questions raised in prior meetings. The board did not enter into discussion about a contract vote during the public-comment period that evening.
Supervisors thanked the volunteers for their work and acknowledged the request; the item remains pending and would require future board action to authorize a contract and any necessary budgetary steps.
