This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. The Editor can be reached at 770-468-7583 or at editor(at)PikeCountyTimes(dot)com. Pike County Times is a website for citizens to keep up with local events and stay informed about Pike County government. It began on November 13, 2006 as a watchdog on county government and has turned into an online newspaper.
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From left to right: Ronnie Kinnas, Department of Corrections; Jerry Summerville, Department of Corrections; Jim Roberts, City Manager and Police Chief; Brian Callaway, Mayor of Molena; Dean Joyce, Department of Corrections; Doug Mangham, Chairman of the Pike County Board of Commissioners; Billy Brand, Georgia ment of Corrections; Darrell Riggins, Molena City Council; John McGuffy, Project Coordinator; George Ingram, City Council. Photo courtesy of the City of Molena.
By Editor Becky Watts
MOLENA - Some believed that it would never happen, but the Molena Fire and Police Station is being built from the ground up right now in the pecan orchard across from the Molena Outreach Center. The groundbreaking for this project took place on April 9, 2012. When the building is complete, it will be an asset to the City of Molena as well as all of Pike County.
Discussion about the need for a new Molena Fire Station began with the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) began in 2005. The funds slowly accrued in preparation for a fire station that many weren't sure would ever be built. With only about $190,000 and a need for both a fire and police station, detailed planning would be necessary to ensure that the needs could be met within that budget.
There have been many round-table discussions to decide what was needed since 2005. Council Member Darrell Riggins came up with the idea of using inmate labor to build the facility. With the help of Warden Edd Sanders from the West Georgia Pre-Release Center, State House Representative Billy Maddox, and Robert Kinnas and Jerry Summerville of the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Mobile Construction Inmate Detail from the Georgia Department of Corrections was scheduled to come in and begin work on this project. Molena City Manager Jim Roberts said that without their help, building on this project would have been at least 1 1/2 years away.
City Manager Roberts said that there were many people who worked together to ensure that this project became a reality in our local area. He specifically thanked County Manager Bill Sawyer and Public Works Director Todd Goolsby for coordinating the grading and gravel that was necessary for this project. He also thanked Pike County Emergency Services (PCES) Fire Chief Mike Grant and the Battalion Chiefs for their participation in the round table discussions that brought this project together.
Fire Chief Mike Grant praised the City of Molena and Mayor Brian Callaway for allowing PCES to have input on how the fire station was built. The final product will be a 5,100 square foot, three bay fire station that will also house the Molena Police Department.
There will an inside training room, a dayroom, a kitchen, an office for Pike County Emergency Services and a City Office for the Molena Police Department. And there will be adequate parking at the station for those responding to emergency calls. It was planned so there can be expansion if needed in the future.
"Every square inch of the station was used for something," said Fire Chief Grant. "There is no wasted space." Chief Grant praised the Department of Corrections for being so easy to work with and for suggesting valuable cost-saving measures on the project. "If it wasn't for them, I don't know that this project would have happened."
Firefighters will be able to study and hang out at the station where there isn't enough room to do that at the current station. Chief Grant said that having volunteers at the station is like having a paid firefighter there because it reduces response time. There will also be a lower response time with the new station because they are no longer chain-raising a door, taking the truck out, and then closing the door behind them to secure the station. It added 2 to 3 min to response time before.
Fire Chief Grant said that the new fire station "will have a positive influence on gaining and retaining members" for Pike County Emergency Services.
Fire Chief Grant advised Pike County Commissioners in a recent meeting that they are hoping to the have the station operational in about 3 1/2 months. City Manager Jim Roberts said that construction is going great. The footings are in for the foundation and if all goes according to plan, the concrete will be poured next week.
The combined fire and police station will be an asset for Molena and the rest of the county. "This might be a smaller project to bigger cities, but this is a huge milestone to Molena," said City Manager Roberts.