Council questions timeline for firehouse repairs amid $750,000 capital appropriation

Council members pressed city administrators on Wednesday about the scope and timing of planned structural repairs at city firehouses after a temporary emergency appropriation on the agenda included funding for three stations.

“This house is in desperate need of repair,” Councilman Kelly said of the Palm Street firehouse in the West Ward, describing firefighters who “meet in the meeting room because that's the only place that they don't get sick from the fumes” and reporting that some firefighters had nosebleeds and headaches. Kelly asked why that firehouse was not included in the list of three stations funded through the emergency appropriation for police and fire capital improvements.

Melvin Waldrop, chief of staff in the office of the business administrator, told the council the administration has been working from a list of stations under a program called Project Phoenix and said, “we'll go back and look at that if this is not on there and should be on there we'll make sure this get included.”

Deputy Police Director Leo Carrillo and other administration officials described steps already underway. Carrillo said he has “been in meetings with both the fire chief and the public safety director to get updates” and that he would “work on getting a written update with the status of those firehouses, to council.” Later in the meeting officials reported that a new air‑quality/exhaust system had been installed at the Sanford Avenue firehouse and would be tested for 60 days as a temporary fix while the city pursues permanent funding.

Administration staff identified three specific engine companies planned for the structural appropriation: engines 19, 18 and 5, and said the $750,000 line item addresses structural fixes identified by engineers and by POCA findings. Officials said life‑safety and health fixes (for example, contaminants and exhaust systems) were being prioritized and could proceed on a faster timetable than larger structural work, which requires engineering assessments and procurement.

Council members asked for written schedules showing when work will begin and end and for clearer documentation of what the emergency appropriation will cover. Several council members urged that the administration provide detailed written updates to the full council after the administration's biweekly coordination meetings with the fire department and public works.

The transcript shows the council pressing for both faster action on immediate breathing‑air problems and a broader capital‑improvement assessment of city facilities, including police precincts and City Hall. City officials said assessments are underway and that some repairs will start this spring and continue through the summer, while larger structural remedies could take longer because of required engineering review and contracting.

The item appeared as part of a package of temporary emergency appropriations (7R1a–h) on the council agenda; the administration described the firehouses portion as focused on structural issues and identified the three stations and the approximate timeline discussed above.

The council asked the administration to provide the requested written schedule and to bring missing stations to the administration's attention so they can be evaluated for inclusion in the emergency work.