By Mary Swerczek
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
The Kenner City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to pay $5.6 million to build a new fire headquarters and fire station after Mayor Ed Muniz vigorously opposed an attempt to build only a station with no administrative building.
Kenner will pay Citadel Builders Inc. of Metairie for the complex that will include a fire station, training room, administrative offices and dispatch center.
Bids for the fire headquarters came in more than twice the $2 million allocated in the 2003-04 capital budget. Citadel recently agreed to lower the bid by $2 million if the project was scaled down to eliminate administrative building.
But the scaled-down option wasn’t necessary. The council instead amended the 2003-04 capital budget to reallocate enough money to pay for the new headquarters.
The money that came from some canceled projects, including a $183,054 skate park, and almost $600,000 collected by the city in interest.
Before the council unanimously made the amendments to the project budget, Councilman Joe Stagni tried to amend the 2003-04 budget to subtract money for the administrative building. His proposal included $365,000 for drainage in the 1st and 5th districts and $365,000 for streets and sidewalk repairs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th districts and $472,000 for fire department equipment and repairs.
“I don’t have a problem with a new fire station,” Stagni said. “The administrative complex is another story. We also have other areas of our city that are in disrepair.”
He and Councilman Marc Johnson said they wanted to build a new station because it could improve the city’s fire insurance rating, but both questioned a new administrative building because of other repairs needed after Hurricane Katrina.
“We’re not saying we’re against a complex,” Johnson said. “We’re saying we can build a station and build a complex later.”
Muniz objected to the amendments, saying that the headquarters would withstand a Category 4 hurricane and that the cost of the administrative building will increase in the future.
“You had firemen who had to evacuate last year because there’s nowhere for them to go,” he said. “To send these firemen out of town for a hurricane would be a big mistake. To reject a bid that will go up considerably is a mistake. It’s a major miscalculation.”
Former Fire Chief Mike Zito, who retired Monday, said the building at 2226 Williams Blvd. is outdated. He said it does not hold up well in storms, is too small to accommodate necessary training and the dispatch center is not up to federal standards.
“It was never meant for us to be there long-term,” Zito said. “It’s taken a good hit structurally every storm.”
Councilwoman Michele Branigan said she opposed the amendment taking money for the headquarters, “because I think the fire department deserves to be brought into the 21st century.”
“I just think it’s a mistake if we don’t take this opportunity,” she said, adding that construction costs will likely increase in the future.
In the end, a divided council voted down Stagni’s proposal 4-3, with Branigan, Jeannie Black, Ben Zahn and Maria DeFrancesch voting against it and Stagni, Johnson and Kent Denapolis supporting it.
After they voted down Stagni’s request, the council unanimously approved amendments to the 2003-04 budget that included enough money for the entire complex.
The new complex will replace the fire headquarters at 2226 Williams and a two-bay station next to City Hall at 1801 Williams. That old station will be used to expand the clerk of court’s office and the finance department, said Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Mike Quigley. The old headquarters will likely house the Parks and Recreation Department headquarters or code enforcement, Quigley said.
Moving the departments will allow more room at City Hall for the city attorney’s office.