Meeker

Expansion planned for Meeker Fire Department

This is the architect’s drawing of the new Meeker Fire House addition. The three bays at the back of the building already exist and will be retained. Only the front portion will be new construction.
This is the architect’s drawing of the new Meeker Fire House addition. The three bays at the back of the building already exist and will be retained. Only the front portion will be new construction.
MEEKER I The Meeker Fire Department will soon be tearing down a portion of the building next door to the fire station to make room for a new addition that will better meet the needs of the Rio Blanco Fire Protection District.

Fire Board member Doug Overton contacted the Herald Times for the purpose of making the community aware of what was happening.
“We were looking for a way to expand the fire department because we needed more room,” Overton said. “There were a lot of options outside of town, even up near the hospital, but that just didn’t make sense. The location of the fire department right now is ideal, so when that building next door came up for sale, we bought it.”
This property, located on the southeast corner of Main and Seventh streets, “has had quite the history,” according to Sam Thiessen at the Rio Blanco County Abstract office. It was a filling station as early as 1930 and later a car dealership—initially the Joy Motor Co.—and remained such into the 1980s.
Don and Janet Carroll bought the property in 1984 to house Carroll Plumbing. After a fire destroyed part of the cinder block and wood building, the present steel portion of the building was built. That portion will actually be retained in the new project.
The building was then sold to Jay Purkey and Cindy Gaugh in 1986 and then to Bill and Erma Rucker in 1995 to house Rocky Mountain Bow Strings. The fire district bought the property in 2012 and has been utilizing it since.
The new structure, which will include redoing only the front portion of the building—it is “outdated and has a lot of problems,” Overton said, will house offices and a board room. This will make space in the old fire house for a larger training room as well as serve as a place for out-of-town personnel to stay while they are on call.
The time frame for the completion of the new steel and block building is the end of next summer.
“We are currently behind from our original plan, but we finally awarded the bid to tear the (existing portion of the) building down,” Overton said. “Our plan is to tear (the front portion) down, put it back in gravel for the winter and start fresh in the spring with the new construction.”
Overton also added that the asbestos inspection was just completed and 33 samples were sent off for testing.
He was hopeful that no abatement will be necessary. Such abatement typically involves hiring a separate contractor to come in and pack the hazardous material in containers before removing it from the site. Such abatement would push the completion date further out. If no abatement is needed, however, the building could be demolished as soon as the end of this month or early September.
Funds for the project will come from the existing surplus in the fire district. The total cost is estimated at $1 million, which is far less than it would have been if construction were elsewhere, Overton said.
“We feel like we are being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money because we didn’t go out and build a $6 million or $7 million firehouse somewhere that didn’t make sense for our response (time),” Overton said. “Because the existing buildings are central in town, we can get to where we’re going fast.”

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It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
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Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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