Council approves new $1M fire station

Maricopa’s new city council approved a $1 million contract with CORE Construction to build a permanent fire station to replace the temporary building located in Tortosa during its first meeting Tuesday.

Fire Station 572, which serves the east side of the city, will be relocated on 3 acres of city-owned property on Bowlin Road west of Hartman Road between the Rancho Mirage Estates and Sorrento subdivisions. The new site is about 1.5 miles from the present location.

The $1 million to build the station will come from the city’s capital reserve, or capital improvement plan, which is money set aside to cover specific long-term projects.

Much of the basic design work already has been done, Maricopa Fire Chief Wade Brannon told council members during his presentation.

Along with the $1 million from the CIP funds, council members approved an additional $30,000 from the city’s current contingency fund to cover design costs from now until June 30.

Clint Larson, CORE’s project manager for the fire station, said after the meeting the station will be built in six months. CORE is the same company building the new Central Arizona College Maricopa campus.

Brannon agreed the project will be expedited. “We are moving really fast on this station.”

To help fast-track the project, the city is contracting CORE through a cooperative purchasing agreement with the city of Chandler. State statute allows municipalities to use each other’s procurement process (the bidding and selection process) to contract a company for a capital project.