The Hicksville Board of Fire Commissioners once again showed a lack of foresight and ability to plan long-term for the community by moving forward with a motion to begin demolishing and rebuilding Station 2 at the taxpayer's expense of $4 million. Four million dollars for a station that has less than 30 active volunteers while southeast Hicksville has less than desirable fire protection.

In the early 1990s, Station 2 had the opportunity to either spend 1 million dollars of taxpayer money to renovate the existing building or to acquire the sump property on Ronald Avenue to expand the station facilities. The sump property would have given the volunteers a huge station with the condition that half the property be developed into a park for the residents. Seems like a win-win situation to me.

What did the commissioners choose in the 1990s? They chose to renovate Station 2 which is on a small piece of property with limited expansion options. They lacked the ability to plan for larger vehicles, additional volunteers, safety issues, the necessary parking spaces adjacent to the building, and the impact on residents. This shortsightedness led to discussions in 2001 of condemnation of residential property as a solution. Condemnation is not a solution. Now our commissioners once again demonstrate their lack of planning ability. They refuse to build on a larger site even though their architect found several sites available and suitable.

Because the commissioners are unable to plan long-term, I can only surmise that the next "renovation" (maybe five or 10 years down the road) will be to obtain the houses directly across from Station 2 through condemnation to become a parking lot. The decision to rebuild Station 2 is a Band-Aid, not a solution. We will have to deal with this again in the not so distant future.

What the fire district needs are commissioners who have the ability to plan long-term, to conduct the proper research and impact studies, and to work with the community.

Linda Quackenbush

The time of discussion is over and the time for action is now.

For too long a period of time our firemen have been volunteering their valuable time and talents with unsafe conditions in the very firehouse to which they report to. Those firemen answer the call, day or night, rain or shine, to serve and protect us.

Bravo to the Hicksville Board of Fire Commissioners for making a difficult but necessary decision to redesign and renovate the east end firehouse!

Lori Mason