A two-car garage is just one of the ways Oxford Fire Chief Jack LeRoy plans to spend $20,000 remaining from a fire bond approved by voters in Nov. 2000.
Township officials Dec. 8 voted 6-1 to authorize Supervisor Bill Dunn and LeRoy to spend the remaining $20,000 in the fire construction account within the next six months.
Items to be purchased include a storage garage, security locks, alarm system and signage.
LeRoy told officials he wishes to build a 24-square-foot, two-car garage on the excess property located behind Station #1 at the corner of N. Washington and Church streets.
The garage would be used to store lawn equipment, snow plows, a utility trailer and other maintenance items currently being stored on the floor in apparatus area, the chief said.
Fire personnel would construct the garage. The only professional needed would be someone to lay the concrete foundation, said LeRoy, adding a building permit must still be obtained from the village.
The storage garage would cost an estimated $10,000 to $12,000, according to the chief.
Trustee Sue Bellairs asked why the garage must be constructed at Station #1 as opposed to Station #2 on Newman and Drahner roads.
‘That’s where most of the activity take place,? Dunn responded.
LeRoy added that there’s not enough room to build a garage behind Station #2.
Bellairs noted the department already has a storage facility in the village ? the old fire hall on W. Burdick.
LeRoy said it would be ‘great? to use the old fire hall, ‘but at present it’s not usuable? due to the legal issues surrounding its ownership, Oxford/Orion FISH’s pending use of the building and the fact it won’t meet the department’s ‘long-term needs.?
Along with the garage, the remaining bond money will be used to buy security locks for both stations, an alarm system for Station #1 and outdoor signage for both stations.
Supervisor Dunn assured the board, ‘We will get bids on everything we do. We’ll do it the right way.?