GEARHART – Is having a new fire station, police station and City Hall in Gearhart worth $3.75 million?

Two Gearhart residents attending the city’s open house Tuesday said no. “It seems a little extravagant for our little town,” resident Nancy Anderson said. She said something needs to be done, but she thinks the fire department could come up with a less expensive solution.

Her husband, Rex Anderson, suggested remodeling and expanding the old fire station, adding that he felt a huge new building was not necessary. “They could do a lot with this one,” he said. “They could fix the roof.”

The Andersons said the tax increase would be difficult for retired people on fixed incomes. Nancy Anderson was concerned for working people in the city as well.

In November, the city’s voters will decide whether to approve a 20-year bond measure to build a municipal complex, relocate the city shop and replace a 20-year-old fire truck. The cost is projected at 79 cents per $1,000 in assessed tax value, or $158 per year for a home assessed at $200,000.

The fire department held a celebration of its 100th anniversary Saturday. The department serves about 2,400 full-time residents and often responds to one call or more per day. Chief Bill Eddy is a city employee, but there are 29 volunteers.

The fire station was built from cinder blocks by volunteers in 1958. Several volunteer firefighters said Tuesday that remodeling is not feasible. Lt. Joey Daniels said the architect refused to consider it, while Lt. Chad Sweet said bringing the structure up to code would be impossible. Lt. Greg McCollum said it could easily be more expensive than building a new structure.

Sweet spoke longingly of having showers to clean off blood, smoke and other hazardous materials, as well as laundry facilities for protective gear. Currently, that gear must be sent to a laundromat.

“We can’t even fit our whole fire department in here,” Sweet said, gesturing to the meeting room. McCollum said the fire department has to upgrade its facilities to allow for training to attract younger firefighters.

Sweet said the volunteers contribute thousands of hours that would be a big expense if they had to be paid. This includes work on grants and fundraising to purchase new equipment. He, McCollum, Eddy and Firefighter Travis Owsley have worked for 20 months to get grants and supervise the construction of Gearhart’s newest fire truck.

The truck would have been built bigger, but it would not have fit into the current station, Owsley said. More space for trucks is another reason the firefighters want a bigger station.

The truck replaces a 50-year-old vehicle with unreliable brakes. It has foam as well as water, which allows more efficient firefighting. It was purchased for more than $205,000 with an Assistance to Firefighters grant, $8,000 from the city, donations from fundraisers and money from the Bob Chisholm Memorial Fund, the Autzen Foundation and the firefighters association. It can respond to car accidents, wildfires, structure fires and problems on the beach and travel through six to eight feet of water, the first truck in the city to have that capability. This means it can respond after a tsunami or during winter flooding on McCormick Gardens Road, Daniels said.

“Our service will never stop, even due to emergencies, bearing that we can get them out of the station,” he said. The fire station is not seismically stable and could collapse in an earthquake, trapping the rescue equipment. A new fire station would be built to withstand most earthquakes.

A pamphlet published by the Gearhart Volunteer Firefighters Association and sent to all city voters said other problems with the current facility include inability to completely secure the building against vandalism, lack of space people can use in case of an emergency, lack of a backup power supply for power outages and rainwater that pools and creates dangerous conditions on the floor.

Police Chief Jeff Bowman, who is housed in City Hall, has said police need a larger, more secure police department, evidence storage space that is more secure, a private interview room and a roof that doesn’t leak. Water from the ceiling recently damaged his office and laptop computer.

City Administrator Dennis McNally said a combined building would allow for a place to store the fire trucks during construction. Fire trucks have to be in an enclosed, secure, heated area, on asphalt, concrete or gravel, with a power hookup to charge the batteries.

McNally said if City Hall is demolished first, the administrative offices can be housed in temporary buildings across the street, and bays for the fire trucks can be built where City Hall stands as the first phase of constructing a combined building.

City Hall, built in 1968, recently had a severe problem with rot, mold and termites. McNally pointed out many discolored spots on the ceilings and said he is concerned about other problems that may be developing.

Local citizen Larry Pfund came to the open house Tuesday dubious, but left saying he supports the bond. He said the planned hose tower would allow for drying of hoses and keep them from rotting, and more space would allow the firefighters to take better care of their protective clothing. They currently must store the clothes in the truck bay, where toxic fumes from the trucks surround them and ultraviolet sun rays shining through the windows break them down. Each set of clothing costs about $1,400.

“This is what these guys really should have to run a decent fire department,” Pfund said.