SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (WCAX) – New federal funding will help provide first responders in Saranac Lake with a new public safety building.
Roughly $4.5 million is heading to the community to help build a new facility that will house police, fire, and ambulance services.
“Really excited to see some positive momentum to keep the process moving forward,” said Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte.
He says his department’s existing building, including the volunteer fire department, is riddled with issues. Shelves stand where showers normally would be available, boxes are stored in jail cells, and sewage problems. But Perrotte says the biggest issue is meeting legal standards when it comes to spaces for interviews. “We are required to have a specific area where juveniles can be interviewed, where they are apart from any adults, and that becomes very difficult,” he said.
Village Mayor Jimmy Williams says they are currently looking at two options–the existing volunteer fire department or a former school at 33 Petrova Avenue, which the village recently purchased for $350,000. He says studies show an overhaul of the existing station could cost upwards of $43 million, while the former school could be around $28 million. Williams says a new building would also help with recruitment and retention. “Having an area to work out, having nice conference rooms, having places to stay comfortably overnight are very important,” he said.
Perrotte says some in the village have pushed back against the former school, saying the building could be better suited for housing and that an increase of loud sirens would disrupt the neighborhood, the latter of which he says the department can help with. “We can mitigate that by simply coming out and activating the lights,” he said.
It is one of several topics Williams says they will address as they continue to study both properties. “Before anything is decided on the village and its residents will have to agree on it,” he said.