LONDONDERRY — Lead paint chips fall from the ceiling and the old garage doors sometimes freeze to the ground in the undersized bay.
But that's not the only reason firefighters are hoping voters approve the construction of an almost $2 million fire station in North Londonderry March 10.
Vinny Curro is a volunteer firefighter and a member of the department's building committee. He said taxpayers are wasting money trying to heat a building that has the original — and inefficient — windows from the 1950s and insufficient insulation in the roof.
A pizza box taped to the heating vent in the back room forces the hot air into the front bay to keep that section of the North Fire Station warm enough to pass safety regulations.
"The money spent on maintenance up here would go a long way," Curro said.
North Fire Station was the town's original station, built more than 60 years ago. Its replacement has become increasingly important to firefighters, but it will be a tough sell in a tough economy.
If the bond is approved by two-thirds of the voters at Town Meeting, a new fire station would be constructed on Grenier Field Road. The site work is about 90 percent complete. That work was done when South Fire Station was built in 2006.
The new fire station would be almost identical to South Station at the intersection of Route 102 and Young Road.
One of the major problems with the station, which houses the busiest piece of fire equipment in the department, is that some trucks from other towns can't park there when Londonderry calls for help.
Although the Manchester Fire Department is close by, its engine is too big to fit in the station.
But not everyone may be ready for a new station for a $1.9 million bond for 20 years. There would be no tax impact the first year, a 6-cent increase to the tax rate the second and third years of the bond, and a decreasing impact thereafter.
The project has unanimous support from the Budget Committee, but two Town Council members said the project was too expensive for taxpayers this year.
"It really has nothing to do with the worthwhile nature of the project," said Chairman Brian Farmer, who voted against placing the project on this year's ballot.
Curro agreed it will be a tough sell, but he said he thinks if it's not approved this year, it won't appear on the ballot again for a few years.
"People can vote however they want," Curro said. "I just want them to be informed."
As the northern part of town is increasingly more developed by commercial businesses looking to locate near the airport, Lt. Mike McQuillen said the new station is becoming more important.
North Station responds to an average of one and a half calls to the airport each day. If firefighters had to travel from Central Fire Station on Mammoth Road, the response time to the airport could double or triple, according to fire officials.
In the last year, Curro said, the town has spent about $8,000 on maintenance on the station. Most of that was to repair mold damage to the second floor of the building and replace a furnace. To save money, firefighters did a lot of the work, including repainting and cleaning up mold caused by water leaking through the walls.
To completely repair the station would cost at least $400,000, Curro said, but that would just be a temporary fix.
That would cover the cost to redo the roof, but it wouldn't include any fire or sprinkler protection on the second floor or bring the building completely up to fire code.
"At some point in time, it has to go," Curro said.
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