Editor
The Miami Township Fire and Emergency Medical Service held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 23 to celebrate the beginning of the building process.
Station 29, located at 1375 state Route 131, is one of four stations in the township. A temporary location was opened in November 2014 because, after looking at wait times in the township, the department found some areas waited more than eight minutes.
The permanent station will be built next to the temporary one. Since the temporary station was opened, response times have been decreased by more than two minutes, and the station is taking about 25 percent of the calls, said Chief Steve Kelly.
The ceremony began with Township Administrator Jeff Wright, who said he appreciates the support that the trustees and the residents have given for the project. Trustee Ken Tracy gave an invocation.
“It’s a very exciting project for our department, our township and the community,” Kelly said.
He thanked the township department heads, the design committee and the trustees, among others, for the hard work they’ve done for the station, which will be staffed by up to six.
“Thank you all, I really appreciate your efforts in doing this,” Kelly said.
The department has been at a temporary site, which sits next to the new station, for a little more than year and a half.
“The job’s not done until we can move in, and even past that point we’ve got a lot of work to do. I look forward to exciting things to come,” Kelly said.
There are now more than 41,000 residents in the township, said Trustee Karl Schultz.
“This is the growth area in the township,” Schultz said.
Construction began about a week ago, said David Beiersdorfer, president. The company is located in Pleasant Plain and includes his wife, Stephanie, who works as the progress manager.
So far, construction workers have stripped the top soil, put in a temporary entrance and are currently mobilizing on the site. They have had a slight delay waiting to Duke Energy to relocate the primary electric.
Construction will take about 10 months. This is not the first station that Endeavor Construction has worked on; they recently finished an addition to a station in Harlan Township.
“We’re honored and privileged to be the general contractor on this new fire station,” Beiersdorfer said.
The building will be 10,000 square feet and a single story. There will be three bays, living corridors for the crew and a small area for storage. It will cost $2,928,000.