With completion slated for August 2025, City Council voted for changes to plans for Fire Station No. 2 that would amount to cost-savings for a project that was almost $1 million over budget. In March, City Staff had told City Council with inflation, other associated costs, and in order to meet bond requirements, that the overall project cost outlook was grim and significantly over the bond approval of $9 million.
City Councilor Kevin Clark said since that time, “I had sent a note into the city manager asking for some more information about the fire station, what actions had been taken to bring it within the budget, how we’re progressing on the construction and when we can see some more positive action out there.” Engineering Director for the City of Stillwater Candy Staring appeared before City Council Monday with updates regarding the construction, budgets and work package 3 for Fire Station No. 2.
She said the project team has found savings in creating architectural adjustments, even removal of features, such as: the south patio, entryway and front sunshades, as well as ornamental windows and columns. Other changes to costs include the roof, millwork, the gate generator pad and enclosure and wall tiles. We promised to pull back, she said.
“We’re still over budget, based on the $9 million GO bond.” “Some of the things we’re doing are trade-offs because we don’t have the budget, but we still have a fantastic fire station,” Staring said. “It’s a beautiful fire station, but it doesn’t look exactly like it started.
” For Work Package 3, March 2024 data was the estimate based on the bids they received but didn’t accept in Work Package 2, Staring said. Actual bids that resulted in lower numbers after making design changes are the bids for August 2024 Work Package 3. “The $700k savings includes the contingency we created after executing Work Package 2, which was by design,” she said.
Assistant City Manager Christy Cluck and Staring have been working together to identify other funding sources for expenses such as IT, security, furniture, fixtures and appliances. The new total costs for Fire Station 2 are projected to be $9.8 million now when complete.
Residents can start to see above construction begin soon, she said. The construction of a new Fire Station No. 2 is part of the City of Stillwater’s T.
I.M.E.
initiative – Together Investing in Municipal Excellence: city projects meant to identify community needs to improve the quality of life in Stillwater. For more information, please see www.stillwaterok.
gov and T.I.M.
E. Projects..
