Lewiston City Council OKs fire station upgrades

A leaking roof, potentially unsafe electrical outlets and the absence of a legal egress window in a bedroom are among the deficiencies that will be remedied at a Lewiston fire station for less than $150,000 in coming months.

Lewiston’s city council approved the expense Monday for its fire station next to the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport at 424 Burrell Ave.

Council President Hannah Liedkie was joined by all of the city councilors other than John Spickelmire in supporting the repairs.

It would be better to stick to the budget for this fiscal year and put the work into the budget for the coming fiscal year, Spickelmire said.

The station had been slated to be replaced and moved to the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Bryden Avenue.

But the council shelved that project in May when costs for the next phase of the project rose by about $1.5 million in about a year to exceed $7.7 million.

The repairs the council approved include $86,000 for the roof, which has a 15-year warranty, $13,000 for electrical upgrades, another $13,000 for soot removal, an estimated $15,000 for upgrades of fire station bedrooms and an unspecified amount for a heat shield for truck bay heaters.

The money is coming from the city’s assigned building fund that has $6.5 million in it, much of which had been earmarked for the new fire station.

The strategy is to address basic needs at the fire station with the most affordable solutions, said Valerie Warren, city of Lewiston Parks and Recreation facility supervisor.

Delaying the work would make the problems worse, she said, responding to Spickelmire’s concerns.

“The roof will sustain damage because that would put it into spring,” Warren said. “The report I got back (stated the roof) has open seams.”

The electrical work involves replacing fixtures, making the station safe and compliant with code with proper outlets, she said.

In supporting the plan, city councilors said the safety of city personnel is important.

“When I hear egress window, I hear fire safety and we don’t even have that in our own fire stations,” Liedkie said. “So I am very much in support of doing this … quickly.…We have waited too long to make sure our service people are safe.”

Councilor Kathy Schroeder had a similar view.

“(The fire station) needs to be maintained and it needs to be maintained safely for the people that are working in it currently and probably will be for several years at this point,” she said.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.