Cedarhurst Green-lights LCFD Firehouse Plan

The Board of Trustees last Monday extended the ’s contract and gave the go-ahead to its $2 million plan to expand the firehouse.

“What they’re proposing is as good as you can get,” said Deputy Mayor Benjamin Weinstock. “We’re encouraged by the project and think it’s the right thing for our residents.”

LCFD last year plans to expand the 110-year-old firehouse, which was extended in 1970, because modern trucks do not fit in it and the department is pressed for space. Its chief, Joseph Sperber, has said the facility does not meet today’s standards.

Sperber has stressed the need for a conference center, an emergency preparedness center and a dispatch center that would fulfill the company’s needs.

Weinstock echoed these issues at last Monday’s meeting, and added that the department’s readiness rating has an affect on residents’ insurance rates. The issue now, he said, is how LCFD will get the money to pay for the upgrades.

The Village of Lawrence has offered to loan the department the money, at a variable interest rate starting at 5 percent, which Weinstock said “is still cheaper than going to a bank.” Cedarhurst would not be able to bond the project because it still has “considerable” debt from the sewer consolidation project.

The fire department will also have to seek a variance from Lawrence for the expansion.

Lawrence approved an extension to LCFD’s contract at its most recent board meeting. The village will hold a public hearing on the contract in May.

Athletic Facilities Ban

The board voted to ban indoor athletic facilities on Central Avenue “in order to maintain [it] as a retail commercial district,” said Village Attorney Jerome Levenberg. He pointed out that they are still permitted in other parts of the village.