New fire station bid awarded

Published 3:00 am Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Construction on the City of Troy’s newest fire station could be under way by this summer.

The Troy City Council on Tuesday awarded a $435,000 contract to Whaley Construction for the retrofitting of a portion of the old National Guard Armory Building on Highway 87 into a much-needed third fire station.

“Completing this fire station in District 3 is going to be a major asset for that side of town,” said Councilman Marcus Paramore. “You’re going to notice the ISO rating and improvements in your homeowner’s policy, not just for District 3 and 4, but for the whole city of Troy.”

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The city is repurchasing the old armory building, currently used as administrative offices for the Troy Board of Education, and plans to retrofit the unused drill hall to convert it to a state-of-the-art, two-bay fire station. The board of education will lease the administrative office portion for $1 per year, for 99 years.

“The total cost of this project is $2.3 million, after the purchase of the building,” said Mayor Jason Reeves, adding that cost is significantly less than anticipated if the city had to purchase land and build a new fire station.

“This is an excellent location and one we need on the south side of U.S. 231, as development increases.”

In other business on Tuesday, the council:

• Recognized India Blakely, the lone senior on the Charles Henderson High School basketball team that advanced to the final four in the state playoffs this year. Blakely has signed a scholarship to continue her basketball career at Mercer University. “A leader is someone who inspires everyone around them,” Reeves said. “And the job you’ve did as leader of that team was impressive.”

• Recognized Ciara Laird of New Life Christian Academy, who received the Prudential Spirit of Community Award as the top middle-school student volunteer in Alabama. “Young people are using their creativity and compassion to improve our communities, and we hope by holding them up as role models other people will be inspired to do more,” said Richard Stewart, a Prudential agent from Montgomery who presented Laird with a medal of achievement during the meeting. Laird will travel to Washington, D.C., later this year for recognition ceremonies and activities and has the opportunity to compete for a national award.

• Received the final audit for FYE2015. Reeves said the city’s financial advisor and auditor will be available at the next regular meeting to discuss details of the audit.

• Awarded a five-year concession contract for the Troy Parks and Recreation Department to Coca-Cola. Dan Smith, director of TPRD, said the city will receive new, LED scoreboards for its athletic fields as an added value in the contract.

• Authorized the Parks and Rec Department to extend its Silver Sneakers contracts to include Viva Health Inc. and OptumHealth, in addition to current contractor Healthways. The Silver Sneakers benefit program allows participants to take enjoy free monthly access to participating fitness centers. “This increases our foot traffic at the center and our revenue,” Smith said, as the participating health care providers reimburse the facility for member access.

• Declared multiple items surplus so they can be sold at the upcoming Cattleman’s Association auction on April 2.

• Authorized the final application for a $100,000 ADEM grant. The grant, which does not require matching funds, would allow the city to purchase a new baler at approximately $80,000 and provide about $20,000 in pass-through funding for Troy University to use on designated projects.

• Authorized the summer feeding program, which provides meals to students throughout the city during summer months.

“This is a very good program and I hope the people in the city of Troy will continue to take advantage of it,” said Councilwoman Dejerilyn King Henderson.

• Approved municipal water pollution prevent program.

“This is a housekeeping item that we do every year,” Reeves said.