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The Lansing Fire District has four fire stations scattered across town.  A major addition/renovation to Central Station was recently completed, and the station in the Village of Lansing was replaced entirely with finishing touches being applied now.  Fire commissioners say they are planning renovations on two fire stations in the north of town as well, which they say is the first time all four stations have seen major construction work at the same time.

"I would refer to it as correcting deferred maintenance over the last 20 years," says District Treasurer George Gesslein.

Gesslein recommended Tuesday that commissioners review their 20 year capital plan so commissioners understand what they are planning for the future and how it will be paid for.  He said the fiscal picture looks good for the district, but commissioners must remain vigilant as they plan for major purchases.


Fire trucks are expensive, ranging from about $500,000 to a million dollars.  A new pumper-tanker is expected to be delivered in September.  The Central Station addition cost $1.34 million, and the new Station 5 in the Village cost about $800,000.  Renovations are also planned for the near future at Station 4 in North Lansing and Station 3 in Lansingville.  The recent construction did deplete the capital reserve, but it is still healthy and planned income will bring the total higher.

"It's taken them down, but they were built up for that purpose," Gesslein says.  "The reserves right now after taking out everything we need for Stations 1 and 5 are still over a half million dollars.  We have Station 4 and Station 3 and we'll pump a little more into reserves to make sure we have enough to cover those, too."

The scope of the North Lansing renovation is currently being defined.  Building repairs and improvements to the kitchen are among potential items to be included.  The equipment bay in the Lansingville station is not long enough to house modern fire trucks, so commissioners plan to enlarge the two-bay station when the time comes.

"You can squeeze the smaller, older trucks in there," says Chief Scott Purcell.  "But as we get newer trucks they're longer and the bay is not deep enough.  The truck bay is only about two thirds of the length we need."

Gesslein says that long term planning means the district tax rate remains low and purchases and capital renovations will be paid for without additional taxes.  The district's debt is nonexistent, and Gesslein says that while the tax base has not increased as much as usual, it has increased this year despite the reduction in value to the Cayuga Power Plant.

"The numbers actually look pretty good," Gesslein said.  "We should be good going forward and we might even be able to do a little reduction (to the tax rate) -- we'll see.  We don't know that yet, but I'm pretty sure it's not going up.  We believe in long term planning and making things work.  These commissioners have done a nice job of keeping everything under control."

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