September 5, 2008

$2.7 million approved for Phelan fire station

Board approved Sept. 9 and construction to begin Sept. 22

RYAN ORR Staff Writer
Victorville Daily Press


SAN BERNARDINO — Supervisors Tuesday are expected to approve a $2.7 million contract for the construction of a new Phelan fire station that will be completed by next summer.

The bid from RIC Construction Company, in Hesperia, was the lowest one submitted and is the only local company out of five throughout the Inland Empire that offered proposals, said David Zook, spokesman for San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.

Pending approval from the board, construction is set to begin on Sept. 11. As part of the project, located on Beekley Road in Phelan, existing facilities on the site will be demolished, dismantled and removed to make way for a 6,997 square-foot single-story fire station. The station will be complete with a hose tower, emergency generator and separate 1,800 square-foot storage building.

“It’s an overdue improvement for the Phelan community and the firefighters who serve it,” Mitzelfelt said.

Mitzelfelt said that an unprecedented investment in capitol improvements and new equipment for the fire department came about from the reorganization of the county fire department, which became official in July.

“We’ve secured it as one that can exceed the expectations and needs of the residents and the public safety needs of San Bernardino County,” Mitzelfelt said of the department.