It will take nearly $12 million to address the priority repair needs in the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department facilities, a new study finds.
Toledo fire department officials were on hand Monday at the Toledo City Council Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee meeting to review information from a facility condition assessment report.
The study by Woolpert, an architecture and engineering firm, reviewed 18 active fire stations and six support buildings. The report outlined needed repairs considered to be priority matters at those locations, as well as improvements that should be considered during the next decade.
Some are more urgent than others, said Ted Sheares, Toledo Fire and Rescue executive fiscal administrator.
“We needed some type of roadmap, and that’s exactly what this provides for us based on an industry professional,” Mr. Sheares said before the meeting.
Problems that could potentially impact the health and safety of firefighters such as soot buildup or mold issues will be among the highest priority recommendations to fix, he said.
“We would prioritize anything that would be health-related first and foremost,” he said. “We would also prioritize stations that house our members 24/7.”
Among the repairs recommended over the next two years according to the report are $3 million for kitchen and bathroom upgrades, $2.4 million for exhaust and air conditioning systems, $2.1 million for concrete, asphalt, and fencing work, $1.9 million for roof repair, and $320,000 for new windows.
Station 7, 2155 Franklin Ave. in central Toledo, topped the list with nearly $1 million in needed repairs, the report said. Built in 1969, the 12,432-square-foot building needs a new roof, water heater, sump pump, bathroom upgrades, garage bay resurfacing, interior paint, and flooring over the next two years. New doors, windows, and drywall ceiling also are recommended as part of a 10-year capital plan for that site.
Other fire stations in need of high-dollar repairs according to the report are station 5, 1 N. Ontario St. in downtown, which needs $824,678 of work; station 9, 900 South Ave. in the Old South End, which needs $599,447 in repairs; and station 13, 1899 Front St., in East Toledo, which needs $574,594 in repairs.
Not included in the study are foundation issues at station 21 on South Detroit and Glendale avenues in South Toledo, which firefighters have told city officials is a significant concern, Councilman Katie Moline said. Firefighters have also brought up concerns about station 16 having “black mold” causing firefighters to get sick, and major roof issues at station 17, none of which are listed on the report, she said.
“It does make me call into question the evaluation process or the methodology used if these things that have been brought to our attention aren’t even noted in the study,” she said.
Woolpert did not conduct air quality foundation tests as part of the study, said Jessica Goodell, director of strategic consulting for Woolpert.
“It was a pretty typical assessment,” Ms. Goodell said.
In August, Toledo City Council allocated $112,000 for the feasibility study. The inspections took place over one week in November, Ms. Goodell said. Staff spent about a half-day at each building, she said.
A photo taken as recent as Sunday shows a crack in station 21’s foundation with water seeping in, said Lt. Phillip Moline, vice president of Toledo Firefighters Local 92, and husband of Councilman Moline.
“My worry is actually about a fire engine going through the floor of it,” Mr. Moline told the committee. “When station 21 was built in 1931, the average weight of an engine was 15,000 pounds, and now they are 60,000 pounds. I want to at least be able to assure our members that council has eyes on problems that are facing them on a day-to-day basis.”
New posts were placed in the station’s foundation eight years ago. No evidence shows issues with the foundation or that a truck could fall through the floor, Mike McBride, building maintenance supervisor for the department, said after the meeting.
He also attributes the leaking rainwater to the building’s age.
“There’s no foundation tile that runs around that structure so when you get driving rains like we’ve had it’s going to leak,” Mr. McBride said.
The study is intended to review the systems that affect the foundation and air, fire officials said. In addition, all of the stations’ captains compile an annual list of capital concerns for each station, which helps to guide the allocation of capital improvement dollars, Fire Chief Allison Armstrong said.
“I would say that this [study] is one of many tools in the toolbox,” she told the committee.
She acknowledged that lining up contractors has been a challenge but staff will begin prioritizing capital projects to present to council for approval.
A total of $3 million in capital improvement funding is currently available to the fire department, Councilman George Sarantou said after the meeting.
“That’s a good start,” Mr. Sarantou said. “We’re not going to do everything at once and next year we’re going to have CIP [capital improvement project funding] available and I think we also have to be looking for grants that we can get.”
First Published April 3, 2023, 10:40 p.m.
