WALHALLA — The Oconee County Council is moving forward on its commitment to build a new fire station for Westminster, despite the process of identifying the proper scale and price of the project taking longer than expected.

Westminster entered into an agreement with the county two years ago to purchase and clear a tract of land in order for the county to pay for a new building to house the city’s fire department, which would also provide a home for some of the county’s Emergency Services operations.

The original estimate for such a project was more than $10 million, a figure deemed unacceptably high by Safety Committee Chairman Wayne McCall. A smaller, simpler building with a price tag one-fifth of the original estimate now seems to be more on target with what the council had in mind to fulfill its obligation to the city.

“It’s progressing forward,” Councilman Joel Thrift said, adding that the council has set an amount of $2.5 million, which the county will not exceed.

The council still hasn’t determined what Emergency Services’ presence will be, though Thrift insists there will be one.

“It is going to have a county footprint, whether it’s rescue, an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) or whatever they decide to put there. There will be a county presence in it,” Thrift said. “Anything above $2.5 million, if there are some fluff items in there that Westminster wants, they’ll have to fund that. This is for the basic building for service.”

COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

Oconee County’s Emergency Services and the Seneca Fire Department is trying to work out an apparent lapse in radio communication that has resulted in duplication of services in some instances.

McCall said during Tuesday’s Safety Committee meeting that he’d received complaints that Seneca’s fire department, which has its own dispatch system, was not letting the county’s dispatch know via radio that it was responding to certain medical calls outside the city limits. That has resulted in several situations in which Seneca’s personnel are already on scene while the county’s Rescue 1 and Station 21 are still dispatched to respond.

“All they have to do is if they’re going to respond, answer up on the radio,” said Emergency Services Director Burdette.

Seneca Fire Chief Shane Phillips and Burdette are set to alleviate the problem by coordinating their radio communication efforts so that duplication of services will not continue.

andrew@dailyjm.com | (864) 973-6687