Mayor Brennan Forms Committee to Focus on LFD Main House Repairs

The formation of a committee to review the repairs needed at the main house of the Lindenhurst Fire Department on South Wellwood Avenue was revealed by Mayor Tom Brennan at Village of Lindenhurst Board of Trustees meeting this week.

The board also spoke about at the same meeting at , as reported by Lindenhurst Patch.

The mayor wants to form a to review the extensive repairs needed at LFD’s , which currently has scaffolding supporting the crumbling brick façade. It’s one of four houses that house six companies the 125-year-old fire department has in the village.

The engineer’s report – prepared by ECG Engineering, LLC in Smithtown and completed at the beginning of January this year after conducting several inspections starting in November – point to the urgency of the repairs since the current scaffolding is only a band-aid, and if left undone, the building will continue to be unsafe.

The mayor wants to include several community leaders in the review process.

“We want to go out to the public, so we want the committee to have a few community members, so they can give us their insight, and take a look at the engineer’s report,” the mayor said.

The main house was built in 1923 and damaged by a major fire in 1978. As a result of the fire, the four exterior walls were the only remaining portions. They were retained, as part of the reconstruction in 1979-1980.

Brennan and Trustee Mike Lavorata called what was done a band-aid, and despite the fact the band-aid’s lasted more than 30 years, more permanent repairs need to be done, as evidenced by the report.

“The northeast and southeast portions of the parapet are in extremely poor condition and currently represent a structural safety concern to individuals at grade,” said the report.

The roof surface was found to be in very poor condition, too, with significant soft spots throughout the roof.

“There is great concern that the existing roof deck may have extensive damage resulting from water intrusion,” said the report.

The far east wall was examined from the large meeting room on the second floor, and the structure had missing mortar, shifted bricks, failed brick arches and shifting roof rafters.

“All of these failures in the exterior walls, as well as the parapet and roof, suggest that significant water damage due to infiltration and intrusion (often resulting in structural failures due to freeze-thaw cycles) has, and is, occurring,” said the report.

It continued: “The extent of this damage can only be assumed at this point without the aid of further extensive investigation, moisture testing and monitoring.”

The report recommended the following: “The north, south and east walls of the structure be removed and rebuilt as new…Furthermore, due to the extent of the fire damage on the east wall, and the magnitude of the unknown in the specific condition (or composition) of the mortar material, it would be ill-advised to assume that this masonry wall may be salvaged.”

The report also found the boiler in very poor condition, with a significant hole in the front, and following the kitchen inspection the hood filters were found to be in need of significant cleaning.

In addition to what the report said, the house also needs a place for the firefighters to stay.

“For lack of a better term, it needs a rec room,” Lavorata said. “The other houses have something, and it really helps keep the guys there. It’s safer and faster when they’re already there at the house when calls come in. They don’t have to race down to the house.”

“I was initially against it,” said Brennan. “ But it does make sense.”

It was clear that the engineer’s recommendations are going to cost quite a bit of money, though no figures were given at the meeting. It would cause the village to obtain a bond, but the mayor doesn’t want to do it without community support.

“We could go and get the bond, but it’s a large commitment, so we’d like to get the village behind us,” said Brennan. “And I want the building to last the next 80 years.”

The last time they went out to the community was in 2008, when the economy was collapsing and heading into recession.

“We put out a non-binding resolution,” said Deputy Mayor Kevin McCaffrey.

“We felt the community should have a say, and they told us no. It was a difficult time,” said Brennan.

“It was too cost-prohibitive at the time,” added Trustee Jodi Caravella.

The board will move forward with the main house committee, and will form it with several trustees and community leaders to review the engineer’s report.

The full report will be posted online at the village’s website, said the mayor.

It reflects the findings of the final inspections of December 22 and 30, 2010 and January 3.

Editor's Note: The full report is now available on the village’s website. In addition to the held May 1, there will be a community forum on May 19 at 7 p.m. at the main haouse so residents can ask questions.