Plans for New Station at Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport Idaho Airport Still up in Air

The estimated cost of a new fire station at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport has dropped from $10 million to $7.3 million, but the city's portion of the cost has gone up.

During a joint meeting Monday between the Lewiston City Council and Nez Perce County commissioners, the city council found out its original 33 percent contribution to the airport fire station has gone up to 56 percent - while the airport's portion has come down from 66 percent to 44 percent.

The city's original contribution toward the station has skyrocketed from $1.8 million last summer to $3.5 million earlier this year, and recent totals now have the cost at $4.1 million - an amount the city can't afford.

"Pushing that number over $4 million, I don't see that happening," Mayor Jim Kleeburg said. "We don't have that kind of money."

City councilors discussed other avenues of getting the fire station built, but said they need more time to look at other options.

Time is something the airport doesn't have.

"We have two or three weeks at the most," Airport Manager Chris Hayes said about the city's decision on whether to continue with the project or not.

The airport is eligible for a $3.4 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to help pay for much of its portion of the station. The airport has already earmarked money for the specialized aircraft rescue fire truck that would be housed in the station. The truck is required by the FAA for continued commercial airline service to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and is expected to be purchased by the next fiscal year. FAA officials told the airport the truck needs to be kept in a building.

If the airport doesn't get the FAA grant funding for the building during this grant cycle, Hayes said it will have to wait four years before it can try again.

Both Hayes and Lewiston Fire Chief Travis Myklebust said an estimate on the building from the independent cost estimator is still on the high end, and the cost could potentially come down as the project moves forward.

"They're not coming down $2 million," Kleeburg said.

Myklebust said city and airport officials have done everything they could to cut costs, and even reduced the floor plan by 1,900 square feet.

"We basically cut everything from the station we can," he said.

However, the building's cost is still too high for the city and councilors threw around the idea Monday of building a separate fire department away from the airport.

If the city drops out of the airport project, the estimated cost for a standalone Orchards fire station would be about $2.7 million to $2.8 million for a 10,000-square-foot building with the purchase of the land included in the total, according to Myklebust.

While that joint fire station idea is still on the table, the city council has other options it wants to look at. But Kleeburg did compliment Hayes and Myklebust for keeping the building simple.

"It's not a country club or a palace," Kleeburg said. "It's a metal building."

In other business Monday:

Lewiston Public Works Director Chris Davies said officials are still using J-U-B Engineering as a consultant on maintenance of the Southway Bridge and hope to start core testing on the bridge by next week. A report is scheduled to be done by the end of May and would include four maintenance options for moving forward with the project. Depending on what options they decide, Davies said a consultant would be hired for the design and it would cost $125,000 to $250,000.

The new intersection at Gun Club Road and Nez Perce Drive has been moved north so it won't be so steep, according to Lewiston Community Development Director Laura Von Tersch. She also said there is a study to see what improvements need to be made and at what priority along the route. The road is being punched through from Nez Perce Terrace as part of an urban renewal project.

A joint and regional dispatch project will link Lewis County's call-taking system with Nez Perce County and the city of Lewiston through an Internet connection. This will save Lewis County some costs on annual maintenance toward a call-taking system, officials said. Lewis County will pay Nez Perce County about 9 percent for the service. The county will still take and receive its own calls, just through a different system.

Thacker may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2278.

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