OCEAN PINES – Officials will come before the Ocean Pines board this month with recommendations for the South Station replacement project.
Last week, General Manager John Viola presented the Ocean Pines Board of Directors with an update on the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department (OPVFD) South Station project. As a work group continues to explore the facility’s replacement, Viola told the board he and fire department representatives would make their recommendations to the board later this month.
“I will come before the board with three options on funding for the building with a recommendation to the board, with which one I believe we should take,” he said.
Last year, OPVFD leaders held a town hall meeting to discuss proposed South Station renovations, and the funding needed to make the project a reality. Officials at that time proposed an $8.6 million project that called for a demolition of the station’s living and administrative quarters, the addition of a two-story building, and a new bay.
In last week’s board meeting, Viola said officials continue to work through the funding aspects of the project. While state funds and fire department reserves would cover a portion of the renovation and replacement, the rest would be paid for through community support. That, officials say, would require the board’s approval of a referendum.
“We’ve done a lot of work on this,” he said. “We are in the budget process … This is a part of it. All these initiatives, this has all been planned for, this is what we’ve been working for the last three or four years, and how we’ve positioned our balance sheet.”
Viola said the work group continues to review contracts, as well as a memorandum of understanding between the fire department and the Ocean Pines Association.
He also told the board the design for the new South Station includes two new truck bays to the south of the three existing ones.
“To the right are two optional bays that the volunteer fire department came forward with and said that would be a wish list, something they would like to have,” he explained. “Based upon the design and the estimates we’re getting, and the way we factored this, it is possible I will be coming forward with those bays in there, at least one, with the pricing.”
Viola added that the project would include the demolition and replacement of the living and administrative quarters. He noted, however, that the three existing truck bays would remain.
“We’re hoping to keep it three bays, and the walls to that,” he said. “We believe there will be sizable savings on that, all factored in. The board gave me the go-ahead to reach out to a firm to test those walls, and that will be happening shortly, in conjunction with Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department.”
