Should City Sell Fire Station?

New Port Richey City Council members want to talk about a proposal to sell off the city fire station at 6121 High Street.

New Port Richey Fire Rescue Chief Alex Onishenko, however, has concerns with the idea to sell the property.

A big one: He said the station is still in use and is staffed 24/7. He said the idea would equate to “closing Fire Station 2.”

“To close it down I think would be a bad idea to the community, increasing response time to all of those in need on the south side,” he said.  

Pasco County Community Development Manager George Romagnoli recently contacted Interim City Manager Susan Dillinger and told her the county was interested in purchasing the station with Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds. The idea is to raze it to make room for new single-family homes. There could be four to six units.

The property would be purchased through a partnership with the nonprofit Tampa Bay Community Development Corp. The county is currently in a campaign to spend $5.3 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds and already has started on a different project to develop six single-family homes near Gulf High School.

Romagnoli said there is vacant property behind the fire station that attracted his eye to the property. The proposed project is in an area that “needs redevelopment,” he said.  

New Port Richey is full of old housing stock, but it's no longer a senior community, Romagnoli said. It needs to build homes. 

In addition to possible impact on service, closing the station could impact the city’s fire insurance rating, Onishenko said.

“We would be taking a step backward,” he said. The consequence could include facing increased “insurance premiums across the city.”

Councilman Chopper Davis said he puts “ a lot of value” on the fire insurance rating.

Onishenko did note there are plans to relocate that fire station to the Grand and Marine Boulevard area, but that the “build date” would be 2015. He said if the council were to accelerate relocation, he might be OK with it.

The station is 41 years old and in need of a “major renovation,” Onishenko said.

The city’s other station, at the corner of Main and Madison streets, is also aging, Onishenko pointed out.  

New Port Richey City Council members directed Dillinger to schedule a work session to discuss selling off the building. They want more information about what the impact of losing the station might be.

Deputy Mayor Bill Phillips raised the idea of consolidating both fire stations into a brand new state-of-the-art station that houses all fire services.

“It’s nice to know that someone wants to buy this property and build houses that would put it back into service,” Phillips said.

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