Plans for the new Boiling Springs Fire Department headquarters will be discussed in a public meeting Monday, Aug. 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the department’s community building at 208 Blacks Drive.
Continuous growth on Greenville’s Eastside and worsening traffic along Pelham Road at I-85 are among the reasons the Boiling Springs Fire Department is moving forward with plans to build a new headquarters station in Hartness Urban Village in the near future.
The department has begun the process of gaining approval for issuing up to $11.25 million in general obligation bonds to fund the project. Department leadership made the case for the new headquarters station at the July 11 meeting of Greenville County Council’s finance committee.
Department public affairs liaison Taft Matney told the committee that the current headquarters station at the corner of Pelham and Garlington roads was built in 1980 and has been expanded three times. The small piece of property on which the station sits is landlocked, which prevents the station from being expanded any further, he said.
The other major issue impacting the station is traffic congestion, according to Chief Steve Graham. The state Department of Transportation has been evaluating intersection improvements where I-85 intersects Pelham Road, Graham said, and using the station property for such improvements is one option SCDOT is evaluating.
“The one thing standing in the way of alleviating (traffic congestion) is us,” Graham said.
Due to space constraints, administrative staff are spread across four stations and a new headquarters station will allow the department to bring those personnel back under one roof.
The department has worked with Hartness to identify a site for the new station at the intersection of Hartness Drive and Garlington Road about a half mile from the current station, Matney said. The proposed location is about 2.5 acres, which would allow ample room for the planned 20,000-square-foot station.
The new station is part of the department’s strategic planning process to not only meet current needs but to position the department for anticipated growth. The move would also improve the department’s coverage along the Roper Mountain Road corridor and reduce service overlaps with neighboring departments to the north.
“It really makes sense from a fire service standpoint to move that half mile down Garlington Road,” Matney said.
What’s next?
County Council approved first reading of an ordinance authorizing the department to issue up to $11.25 million in general obligation bonds for the project at the council’s July 19 regular meeting. Second reading and a public hearing on the matter will take place Aug. 16 during the county council’s next scheduled meeting.
There is some time pressure on the department to get the bond issue approved within the next few months as interest rates continue to rise. Attorney Joe Lucas, whose Columbia-based Pope Flynn law firm is assisting the department with the bond issue, told the finance committee that if the department gets the bond issue approved by early fall they hope to be able to secure an interest rate of 4% on a 20-year bond.
Boiling Springs Fire Department fast facts:
- The Boiling Springs Fire District was created by the S.C. General Assembly in 1970.
- The department serves about 28,000 permanent residents on Greenville’s Eastside from four stations: Headquarters (Station 11) at 5020 Pelham Road, Station 12 at 2015 Hudson Road, Station 14 at 228 S. Batesville Road, and Station 15 at 208 Blacks Drive.
- The department maintains an ISO Class 1 rating and employs 55 paid staff.
