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Atlanta city councilman shares frustrations over financial request for fire stations
An Atlanta city councilman says he is questioning why taxpayers are spending twice as much to build a fire station and why city managers are coming back to ask for multi-millions to complete a station in the northwest part of town.
ATLANTA - An Atlanta council member says taxpayers are paying too much for construction of fire stations.
Dustin Hillis, who chairs the Atlanta City Council Public Safety Panel, called out city managers for the cost of new construction that will replace a station on Hollywood Road in northwest Atlanta.
"This is ridiculous," the councilman said. "We need to not do this anymore."
Hillis complained the Dickens' administration asked council for the additional $5 million for construction. The cost of the replacement firehouse is approaching $16 million.
The selected contractor backed out of the deal, leaving city hall to start all over again.
"We have our neighbors -- Sandy Springs or DeKalb County -- and they can build stations that are larger for $5 million to $7.5 million," the councilman added.
But the commissioner for the Department of Enterprise Asset Management warned that Atlanta's standards for design and construction may be different than the suburban communities cited by Hillis.
"You have to compare apples to apples," said Remy Saintil.
He pledged to complete the station 22 for well under the projected $16 million price tag.
The latest estimate for having a station to replace the building that opened in 1938 is 18 months.