Corrales Fire Chief Anthony Martinez says his department still considers water for fire suppression the top priority, but the time has come to address other needs.
At Tuesday’s Village Council meeting, Martinez said those needs include a new substation, a remodel of Fire Station No. 1 and a new training site. Much of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of fire department priorities as the village assembles its infrastructure capital improvement plan (ICIP), which gets sent to the state legislature as it considers funding requests from local governments.
The training center cost in the agenda was given as $500,000, with $148,500 already collected for the project. Martinez said fire departments in neighboring areas have various training grounds, which are commonly available to other departments.
“We’re gonna be building a trench rescue platform, which is something that no one else has,” he said. “That’ll make (it so) other departments can come and use our training facility.”
Another $700,000 request would cover fire equipment. That includes personal protective gear, breathing apparatus, portable generators and of course, hoses and nozzles.
The remodeling project has an estimated cost of $175,000 Councilors seemed to prefer putting that money into the regular budget, rather than waiting for a state appropriation. Village Administrator Melanie Romero said she will include that project in the preliminary budget presentation, which is up for discussion at the May 12 meeting. Councilors are being asked to rank ICIP the projects by May 20, so it can be brought back for more discussion at the May 26 meeting.
When asked if the department would rather see the village-wide water suppression project fully funded before moving to other items, Martinez said that’s not the way to go. “It could take years to get funded,” he said. “We’re just doing bits and pieces thanks to representatives and senators, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to fulfill that need. That’s why it’s always a number-one priority. So keep funneling money in that direction.”