When news broke that the Ellenville Fire District was considering a plan to purchase a building for $550,000 without having any concrete information about what the cost of remodeling that building would be, people were concerned and showed it by raising the issue in public forums, online and in private. Now that the EFD has suggested that the remodeling efforts for the current proposed site could be $3.6 million or possibly more, it is imperative that a frank and honest dialogue take place regarding the limits of what the local taxpayers can support, not just with their votes, but with their tax dollars.

We are not arguing with the idea of consolidating Ellenville's three fire companies, but objections must be made as to the process by which they will occupy one building. If the current cost estimates are accurate, the district's new home will cost four times ($4.1 million) what it cost to purchase and remodel the Ellenville Government Center. And with a large majority of district residents already holding their collective breath to see what will happen to their taxes when they assume the burden of that project, it seems unreasonable and unrealistic to place such a massive tax burden on the residents and business owners that populate the fire district.

Given this context, it appears that the EFD may have suffered from the same problem that has plagued their consolidation efforts from the beginning — the wrong place at the wrong time. From the aforementioned purchase of the new village hall, to the overeager vote they approved, to a lack of informing the public about all the issues at hand, to their lack of answers about what will happen to the Scoresby, Pioneer and Kimble firehouses once the project is complete — the case just simply has not been made to the voters as of yet.

Now, the EFD says it will hold a public informational meeting on Wednesday, January 23 at 6 p.m. at the Greenfield Park firehouse. Hopefully, the meeting will serve to answer all of the questions and concerns that have recently been voiced by taxpayers who are afraid of having to shoulder yet another cost while the district loses yet another building from its tax rolls.

Editor's Note: Since the Ellenville Journal's publishing schedule will prevent the appearance of a printed article after the informational and before the January 29 vote, we will be posting our coverage of the meeting on our website on Thursday, January 24 as a web exclusive.

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