On some days, the moisture builds up so much inside the temporary firehouse tent on the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, it starts to rain inside.
On Oct. 5, U.S. senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez joined Rep. Albio Sires, Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, and Fire Chief Greg Rogers to announce the receipt of a $3.56 million federal grant that will help stop the rain inside the temporary firehouse by constructing a new state of the art facility.
“This investment in Bayonne’s public safety infrastructure will provide firefighters with the facilities they need to best protect the community,” Lautenberg said. “Bayonne’s bravest face a unique set of challenges on this urban peninsula and must be prepared with the resources necessary to do their jobs.”
Bayonne is the only fire department in the state to receive this grant, and this is the sixth largest amount to be awarded to any municipality in the nation, said Chief Rogers.
“This grant will give the city of Bayonne the financial means to finally embark on the final stages of this crucial fire project.” – Rep. Albio Sires
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Sires said the grant will give the city the financial means to embark on the final stages of the construction project. He also said this provides much needed protection to a section of New Jersey that may be “the most dangerous two miles” in America, citing the nearby chemical facilities.
Chris Patella, executive director of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority – who will oversee the placement of the new station – said the final details of the location are being worked out, and that the station will be located near to where the existing temporary station currently is in the Harbor Station section of the Peninsula. The former military base is divided into six developmental districts and Harbor Station is the closest section to Route 440.
“The idea behind this grant is to stimulate the economy and we are required to spend it as quickly as possible,” Patella said.
Rogers called this “the mother of all grants,” and looked ahead to a time when the facility would be constructed.
Mayor Smith said this was a move that would help provide protection to the whole eastern portion of Bayonne. The grant, he noted, will also have the benefit of providing local construction jobs.
The old station was forced to close
The temporary fire station, which began operation last year, was the result of the sale of the Maritime District last year to Ports America for a car import/export operation.
When the Peninsula was still in operation as a military base, the U.S. Army maintained its own fire department and built a firehouse there. When the federal government closed the base in 1999, Bayonne took over the fire service. But the sale of land forced the fire department to relocate.
This coincided with a report by Matrix Consultants in December 2007 that recommended combining several operating departments at one location.
“The old Military Ocean Terminal Fire Station (Station One) was located to far east to be effective and was recently sold to developers,” said Fire Chief Greg Rogers “The 34th Street Station (Station 5) was built over 100 years ago when the demographics of the city looked significantly different than it does today.”
Since the 34th Street Station was located only seven blocks from another station, it was moved to provide more rapid response and wider coverage from the new location, which has immediate access to 34th Street as well as to Route 440 and roads leading into the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor.
The 5,000 square foot tent was installed at the edge of the Peninsula to temporarily house the units until a new state-of-the-art facility could be constructed. The city’s master plan calls for a new permanent structure to house the Fire Department located in the Harbor Station South area.
In the depressed local and national economy, the city had to find ways to fund the new building, so that the fire companies can be moved out of the tent and the firefighters moved out of the adjacent trailers they currently use as residences.
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the Bayonne Fire Department will receive more than $3.5 million through the Assistance to Firefighters Fire Station Construction Grants program. The funding will go to the construction of a new fire station.
“This grant will give the city of Bayonne the financial means to finally embark on the final stages of this crucial fire project,” said Sires. “Our new station will increase the capabilities of Bayonne’s fire department to protect communities from fire hazards while at the same time creating jobs and healing the 13th District’s economy.”
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Bayonne’s allocation as part of more than $380 million in grants – funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) – to pay for fire station construction and port and transit security initiatives nationwide.
In awarding ARRA funds, DHS prioritizes shovel-ready projects that infuse resources into local economies quickly while meeting critical security needs. DHS has obligated more than 30 percent of its ARRA funds to date, and is on track to obligate more than 50 percent by the end of September 2009.
ARRA, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Feb. 19, committed more than $3 billion for homeland security projects through DHS and the General Services Administration (GSA) – including $610 million to FEMA for grants to local communities across the country.
“I am happy to have supported Bayonne’s application for this grant earlier this month,” said Sires. “I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has recognized the value of this project to our district’s security and economic growth.”