Video - Cost Calculations Begin as Fire Awaits Mold Removal

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Cost Calculations Begin as Fire Awaits Mold Removal

KBTX 3 /College Station*

Posted: 10:29 PM Mar 31, 2008

Reporter: Steve Fullhart

Email Address: fullhart@...

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/17177371.html

Very rough, but educated estimates from Fire officials show

the department is looking at $75,000 to $100,000 in reconstruction

costs alone at Fire Station 3, where mold forced personnel to

relocate.

Fire Chief Mike Donoho says they have started to rework their budget

numbers to make it through the year as unscathed as possible.

For now, the department awaits word on a gameplan to attack Station

3's mold, a plan that should land in leaders' laps this week.

Officials already know they'll have to dig into their wallets for

upwards of $30,000 for that plan of attack alone. Of course, then

they'll have to pay for the mold's removal.

" And then we have the reconstruction, " said Donoho, " and then we

also have the repairs to the leak to ensure that we don't have any

other leaks in that area. "

Now comes word that Station 3 isn't the only one that will get the

once over. Donoho tells News 3 the city's other three stations will

be tested by Texas A & M's environmental health and safety group, the

same one looking at Station 3.

Station 2 was built in the 1960s, but there are high hopes for a

clean bill of health despite its age.

" There's been a lot of work done to that building over the years, a

lot of remodeling and upgrades, " Donoho said. " We haven't had any

problems that we know of in that facility. "

But if there are issues, the penny pinching will only increase.

Right now, it's coming out of the department's budget.

" Of course, if we can't make it up within our budget, the city will

make it up out of the general fund budget, " Donoho said. " They do

have a contingency for emergencies, and this fits that category. "

According to the city's Fiscal Year 2008 budget, the fire department

is allocated nearly $10 million piece of the pie. The vast majority

of that is for salaries and benefits.

The department had around $60,000 budgeted for maintenance.