Staff seeks $515,000 to ready Fire Station No. 1’s temporary home

Before Fire Station No. 1 can be replaced, its temporary home needs work. Sandy Springs, Georgia, staff is asking City Council on Nov. 3 to award a construction contract of up to $515,000 to prepare leased space at 8615 Roswell Road.⁠[1]

The temporary station is intended to keep fire and emergency response services running while the existing station at 1425 Spalding Drive is demolished and rebuilt. Staff says the temporary site must be ready for occupancy before demolition begins.⁠[1]

F.H. Paschen submitted the lowest of three bids, at $515,000; the others were $567,098 and $990,000. With $262,401.50 available in the build-out budget, staff proposes moving another $300,000 from capital contingency. That would shift existing capital money rather than require an additional appropriation, according to the funding memo.⁠[1]

One construction figure needs clarification. The budget memo lists $561,350 as the construction cost including a 10% owner’s contingency. But adding 10% to the recommended $515,000 contract produces $566,500—a $5,150 difference between that calculation and the listed total. The two figures do not reconcile as presented.⁠[1]

Rent is a separate funding problem. Interim Fire Chief Jesse Bernard’s memo says the adopted FY2027 budget did not include the temporary station’s lease expense. Staff proposes covering $216,000 in rent with money budgeted for an aerial truck and an engine. Their first financing payment is not due until FY2028, freeing $534,500 in FY2027; the remaining $318,500 would go to general contingency. Staff says the change would not increase the overall FY2027 budget.⁠[1]

The rent memo lists payments of $18,000 a month, or $216,000 annually, under a two-year lease. It inconsistently describes the expense being funded as both the first and second lease year. The proposed FY2027 allocation is clear; which lease year it represents is not.⁠[1]

This is not the initial decision to rent the property. Council unanimously authorized a commercial lease and letter of intent with JAT Partners on March 17. The current construction-funding memo says the city entered the two-year lease on May 1 and has completed the temporary facility’s design.⁠[1][2]

The construction award and both budget amendments remain proposals on the Nov. 3 agenda, not completed council approvals. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Studio Theatre at City Hall, 1 Galambos Way.⁠[1]