Fire Chief Dennis Russell tells town council members fire station funding likely.

 By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Report

            Bronson has been awarded $900,000 by the Florida Legislature to begin building a new fire station, according to Fire Chief Dennis Russell.

            Russell said Wednesday he is waiting for written confirmation from the Florida Fire Marshal that the money is available to start the project but his understanding is that the government has signed the bill.

            “I don’t have anything in writing that I have the money,” Russell said.

            The signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis signature would mean the project is funded. The funds would be administered through the Florida Fire Marshal’s office.

            Russell said the project is so new he doesn’t know how much of the station he can build with the money. The town must hire an engineer to draft plans. Clearing the site for construction would be the next step.

            A helicopter landing pad is envisioned at the site.

            The fire chief and his former assistant, Paul Anderson, applied for $1.8 million in funding but received half of what they requested in the 2019 legislative session. Russell will submit an application for an additional $900,000 in 2020.

            Russell hasn’t spoken to the Levy County Department of Public Safety on whether officials there would like to station an ambulance at the new facility, but Russell has always wanted EMS stationed with his firefighters.

            The fire station will be constructed just north of the Levy County Extension office along U.S. 27A.

            The facility is to be built on 6.7 acres of land donated to the town by Plum Creek Timber Company several years ago. Plum Creek merged with Weyerhaeser in 2016.

            The money allocated by the Florida Legislature is not a grant, but Russell said the distribution of the funds will work like a grant. The construction company that is chosen to build the facility will request reimbursement as the structure is completed. The town will ask the state Fire Marshal for reimbursement. The town will then pay the contractor. Russell said the turnaround time should be short.

            Russell said the new fire station will be an asset for his department, particularly his firefighters and for the people of Bronson.

            “It’s going to be much better for the citizens of Bronson. We’ll have a facility that people (future firefighters) will want to come to,” he said.

            Anderson has moved away from Bronson to take a much higher paying job out west fighting wildfires but Russell said they are continuing to stay in touch and Anderson is volunteering his time to assist the department.

            Russell said Anderson has contacts in Tallahassee that could be helpful in the future as they move forward with the project.

            Anderson wrote a $428,000 Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grant for Bronson but left before the grant was fully administered. The grant funds are used to train firefighters. Russell said the grant will also provide advanced training to firefighters as emergency medical technicians.

            “It gives them a career. They have to make a commitment to stay here two years,” Russell said.

            In Anderson’s absence, Russell currently has no full-time administrator for the grant.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting July 1, 2019; Posted July 10, 2019