New fire station costlier than expected

Rising labor, gas costs lead to $200,000 higher price tag

City Hall seems to have little luck when it comes to building fire stations.

For the second time in about six months, commissioners are being asked to approve construction of a fire station – even though bids for the project are significantly higher than planned.

At their meeting tonight, commissioners are expected to approve construction of Fire Station No. 4 in the 2100 block of Wakarusa Drive. The station will provide better fire protection for several West Lawrence neighborhoods, but it will come at a price of about $200,000 more than the expected $2.1 million price tag.

“We need to know why this is happening,” said City Commissioner Mike Amyx.

Commissioners found themselves in a similar situation in January when bids for Fire Station No. 5, near 19th and Iowa streets, were approximately $500,000 more than what architects estimated. Commissioners ultimately agreed to proceed anyway.

Paring down the cost won’t be easy on the new project, officials said.

Dan Sabatini, president of Lawrence-based Sabatini Architects, said the building already was a no-frills design, almost identical to the $1.5 million station built four years ago at 2128 Harper Ave. Sabatini said the increased cost was a result of an unexpected rise in materials and labor costs over the last couple of months.

City Manager Mike Wildgen said he was convinced little savings would result from rebidding the project

“I think a lot of people (contractors) are scared of fuel prices,” Wildgen said. “The fuel is used to make and deliver so many of these products. It’s tough when gas is already $2.50 a gallon.”

Closer look

Mark Bradford, deputy chief with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical, said he hoped commissioners would agree to move forward with Fire Station No. 4 as well.

Bradford said the station was an important part of a plan to meet a goal of responding to 90 percent of all calls within six minutes or less. Currently, the department meets the six-minute mark just less than 70 percent of the time. Bradford said he didn’t know how much the new station would boost that percentage.

Stations in transition

¢ Fire Station No. 4, which will be just south of the city’s water treatment plant on Wakarusa Drive, will be the westernmost fire station in the city. The station will replace the current Fire Station No. 4 at 2819 Stonebarn Terrace.

¢ Fire Station No. 5 – which is under construction and is scheduled to open in March near 19th and Iowa streets – will be able to cover part of the territory covered by the existing Fire Station No. 4. The new Fire Station No. 4 – expected to open in the summer of 2006 – will be able to better cover newer neighborhoods on the western edge of town.

The two new stations will produce two empty buildings that city officials will have to figure out how to use. City Manager Mike Wildgen said that within the next couple of months, the city will host open houses at both the existing Fire Station No. 4 and a fire department building near 19th and Massachusetts streets that will no longer be needed once Fire Station No. 5 is completed. Wildgen said he wanted to make sure neighbors of the two buildings would have input into their future uses. Wildgen said the city would first look to see whether there were city departments or programs that needed the space before putting the properties up for sale.

“I know it will only help though,” Bradford said. “And if we didn’t do anything, I know (the response rate) would go down. With the growth of the city, you can’t remain static.”

Amyx said he would like to take a closer look at the project and see whether there are items that can be cut or scaled back to make the project come in at budget. But Amyx said he did believe the station needed to be built.

“The fire station is needed,” Amyx said. “There is no doubt about that.”

Mayor Boog Highberger also said he supported the fire station, which will replace an existing station at 2819 Stonebarn Terrace. But Highberger said he was inclined to agree with city staff’s recommendation to just accept the bids and move on.

“I think what we’re getting is a really unexpected rise in materials cost,” Highberger said. “I would rather bite the bullet instead of scaling it back and lowering the quality of the materials.”

The 11,000-square-foot building – which will have three truck bays and living quarters for up to 12 firefighters – was estimated by designer Sabatini Architects in June to cost $2.11 million to build. But when bids were opened recently, the lowest was $2.31 million from Champion Builders.