History of the Fire Station Construction Campgain

Milton Fire-Rescue is primarily an on call fire and EMS agency that is supplemented by a combination of full time and part time staff during the day from 6:00am to 6:00pm.  Milton Fire-Rescue currently operates from two fire stations. Station 1 is located at 460 White Mountain Highway in Milton.  Station 2, constructed in 2002, is located in the Village of Milton Mills on Jug Hill Road. Central Station has been home to Milton Fire-Rescue since 1952.  The current facility was formally a horse barn constructed in approximately 1807 and moved to the current site in 1952 to be used as a fire station. Like many stations in rural communities in New Hampshire, the original station underwent a series of renovations (1963, 1970, 1975, and 2011) in attempts to prolong its usefulness and save the expense of having to construct a new facility.

On July 26, 2005 The NH state fire marshal’s office found numerous code violations within the station. Some of those violations included no second means of egress from the second floor, no second means of egress from the main office area, no second means of egress from the main apparatus floor as well as no second means of egress from the lower level apparatus bays. Other violations included no smoke detectors, no fire barriers between floors, including two open stairways, nor a fire alarm system to notify occupants. These items were brought to the selectman for consideration. The smoke detectors were added but no other violations were corrected due to the extent of changes that were needed in order for the violations to be considered corrected.

A follow up inspection in August of that same year obviously turned up the same results. At this point the town realized the dilemma it was in and began considering a new station. On February 27, 2006 a variance was requested by the town of Milton to allow emergency services to continue to be provided in this facility until funds could be allocated for a new station. In March, the variance was conditionally granted. In 2007, less than a year from that variance, the Fire Marshal’s office determined that “The use of the building for anything other than storage for vehicles would create an imminent danger to the occupants.” One year later, on February 4, 2008 the NH Department of Labor inspected the facility and found severe health risks. One of those health risks was the air quality from the apparatus diesel fumes, as no exhaust removal system exists within the station.

In an effort to provide a safe work environment for the employees of Milton Fire-Rescue, the selectmen opted to obtain a temporary construction trailer measuring ten feet by thirty feet for the firefighters and EMT’s from which to operate.  The temporary trailer remained as the base of operations for Milton’s emergency responders for three and a half years until July of 2011.  Earlier in 2011, Milton voters approved $60,000 to bring the Milton Fire Station into a condition that the firefighters and emergency workers could once again utilize.  The Fire Chief spent countless hours working with the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal, New Hampshire Department of Labor, Primex insurance, and a code compliance specialist hired by the town. Together a plan was developed to reoccupy the existing fire station.  Once the plan was complete, it was presented to the Fire Marshal’s Office for acceptance of the several variances requested. The Fire Marshal accepted the plan, which included adding a monitored fire alarm system, significant electrical upgrades, the creation of fire barriers between several parts of the building, and the installation of a minimal exhaust extraction system.  The plan was accepted by all the appropriate agencies under the condition that these renovations where yet another stepping-stone in obtaining approval for a new central fire station.  By no means were these upgrades intended to be a long term solution for the town.

In late 2010, Herbert Downs Jr. donated what is now the proposed fire station building site to the town for the sole purpose of constructing a fire station.  There were two stipulations that had to be met in this agreement.  First, the town has 7 years to have a fire station built on the site or it will revert back to Mr. Downs. Second, the fire station must be constructed in the memory of Herbert Downs Sr. who served as Milton’s Fire Chief for several years.

In March of 2011, Milton Voters approved $5,000 to be placed in a capital reserve fund for the design of the proposed fire station.  Most of this money was utilized to survey and create a “current conditions” plan of the future building site.  A year later in 2012 Milton Voters again overwhelmingly approved $30,000 to be added to the ”Herbert Downs Fire Station” CRF for planning and design of the proposed station.  The building committee reconvened and began discussion on how to proceed with a design.  After much discussion with various contractors, architects, consultants and other fire chiefs it was determined to hire a Construction Manager/Architect team.  During the summer of 2012, the building committee requested qualification RFQ from a CM/AE team.  Nine teams showed interest in the project.  After interviews, reference checks, and requests for additional information the committee selected Eckman Construction and Goudreau Architects as the design team.

After the selection of the team, the building committee went to work with the architect to begin the design and cost proposal for the new station.  The preliminary design was completed and presented to the body of the building committee for comments, review and suggestions.  Through a collaborative effort between Eckman Construction, Gourdreau Architects, the fire department, and the building committee, the proposal went through a few revisions.  Based on the Goudreau’s schematic design and Eckman’s knowledge of fire station construction a budget was created in the amount of 2.7 million dollars.

In March of 2013 Voters narrowly rejected the proposal, missing the needed 3/5 vote by only 21 votes.  When the poles closed the final count was 447 yes and 334 no, 57% of the voters approved the project.  Despite defeat the department was encouraged by the show of support.  The building committee reconvened in early spring and decided to move forward with the same proposal in 2014.  The contracts with Eckman and Goudreau where updated at no upfront cost to the town.

Over the summer of 2013 the Chief spent countless hours studying the plans, attempting to find ways to eliminate extra costs. Several visits where made to area fire stations with the Selectman and building committee.  In the end the previous year’s plan was substantiated with only a few minor changes.   Once the changes were made between the fire department and the architect they were reviewed by the building committee and the selectman for approval.  At that point the updated proposal was sent to Eckman Construction to update the projects figures and review the previous figures to ensure accuracy.  The committee met in late November of 2013 with Eckman and Gourdreau and went over the project item by item making any needed adjustments.  At the conclusion of the meeting all parties involved came to an agreement that the updated price for the 2014 March ballot would be $2,864,100.  Once again Milton voters supported the project, however it failed to reach even a simple majority of the required 3/5's.

During the summer of 2014, again the department regrouped and reevaluated our needs and our approach. That summer Milton’s department heads began meeting regularly to discuss future department needs.  The fire station soon came to the forefront of the discussion and it was determined that a two year approach on the project could prove to be beneficial.   Year one would be to consolidate the proposal and ask voters to approve $143,000 to further the design and formally put the project out to bid. The contract with the design and construction firm were once again extended for the purpose of retaining the firms and making changes to the design without incurring additional costs to the town. The design changes consist of a reduction in square footage from; 12,000 sq/ft to 9,000 sq/ft, as well as more simplistic footprint and rooflines. The reduction came from consolidating spaces, making spaces dual purpose, eliminating storage space, and slightly reducing the space around the vehicles. Additionally, the new square footage has reduced the number of bathroom facilities required by code. The revised design consists of all the same components as the previous plan just on a slightly reduced scale. At the March 2015 Town Meeting there was a large show of support for the new two year approach and the funding to move the design forward was approved.

During the summer of 2015 the Fire Chief and Assistant Chief worked with the architect and engineers to iron out the details of the design.  Countless hours were spent looking over every detail of the project from site layout to electrical outlet placement.  As the design neared completion the Fire Chief and the contracted firms presented information to the Milton Planning Board for input and preliminary approval.  The planning board supported the design and site layout with minimal feedback and suggestions.  As winter approached Eckman Construction began preparing the project to be put out to bid, a step that has not been completed in any of the previous five bond approval attempts.  Once the bids were compiled from all the sub-contractors a total cost of construction was determined.  Eckman then passed along the construction costs to the Fire Chief who reviewed the numbers and calculated the total cost required to construct the facility.  In the end the final request for the new Milton Fire and EMS facility will be $2,795,000.  As the 2016 vote approaches; it is important to remember the town was only given seven years to construct a fire station on the donated piece of land. After the March 2016 vote there will only be one year left before the town must seek an alternative piece of property. Voting will take place on March 8th 2016.