Architect presents options for police, fire departments

By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – The audience at the City Commission meeting Thursday, Oct. 26 was filled with police officers, firefighters, and residents who just wanted to hear what the departments’ new digs might include and what the price tag might be.
The Gibson Tarquini Group is the architectural firm hired by the city of Margate to undertake a study to determine what the needs of the police and fire department are and come up with plans to meet those needs. At the Oct. 5 meeting of the Margate City Commissioners, the architect was asked to formulate some plans and to come up with some estimates for what new or renovated facilities would run.
They presented different options, spelling out what each option would add or remove. The Fire Department plans, according to what was drafted by Robert Tarquini, takes into account the turning radius of the firefighting equipment, the impact on Jerome Avenue traffic, and the ability to maneuver the equipment in the bays.
The options that were preferred by the majority of city commissioners includes four bays and comes with a price tag of roughly $4.3 million. Upping that to five bays would add another $250,000 to the project.
The Police Department plan favored by the majority of the commissioners would necessitate reducing the size of the adjacent playground and some alignment of No Name Street, but still permit access to the recycling area of Public Works and parking. The cost of the new building is roughly $3 million.
Various options were available for both the fire and police departments. The commissioners narrowed it down to three different options, and now the architect will go back and put “hard numbers” to the project.
The final part of the puzzle the architect was asked to present last week was a plan for renovating the existing City Hall Fire Station 1. Those costs came in at near $4 million, not including the purchase of a nearby property that would be necessary for parking as the renovation would eat up the municipal lot behind City Hall.
Mayor Vaughn Reale said, “We are having the discussion, asking the questions, and coming down some working ideas that are in line with the findings of the long term planning commission as far as the police and fire department facilities go.
“I do not think this commission will be the ones to make the final decision. I think that will be done by the commission elected in May,” Reale continued.
“I also think that because of the cost of these projects, this might be something that should be determined by a referendum vote. Again, that is something that will most likely be decided by the next group of people who occupy these seats.”
Tarquini will come back with the refined numbers in December.
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