Heading into 2008, the relaunching of the fire school and the eventual upgrading of the county’s emergency radio communication system were two items addressed by members of the Oswego County Legislature as top priorities for the year.

Updates on both projects given at Thursday’s meeting of the Public Safety and Emergency Services legislative committee showed one nearing its renovation stages and the other also taking strides forward.

Both of these items were major issues touched upon earlier this year by Legislature Chairman Barry Leemann, R-Amboy, in his 2008 State of the County Address. “Myself and all of the legislators are elated to get these projects moving,” Leemann said Thursday afternoon. “These are items that we felt of utmost importance and it is rewarding to see them coming to fruition.”

The final item addressed at Thursday’s meeting was met with applause from committee members and visiting legislators, as Fire Coordinator John Hinds and County Administrator Phil Church explained that the closing documents that finalize the sale of the property, which will house the fire school, are in the mail. The fire school will be located on the 20-acre former site of Niagara Mohawk fire school on East Seneca Street in Oswego.

Once paperwork is received and completed, this will be an escrow closing, however, as National Grid had a consent order with the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) requiring a 60-day notification period prior to closure or transfer of the property. County Attorney Richard Mitchell explained that both National Grid and Oswego County have written the DEC requesting the notification period be waived, to allow for cleanup and renovations at the site to begin as soon as possible. Mitchell seemed confident that the closing would take place soon, noting, “Both National Grid and the county are working diligently to get this done … we are optimistic that this will close in short order and we are looking forward to having all the documents in our possession.”

Looking ahead to the fire school finally opening, Leemann added, “We are all frustrated that it has taken as long as it has, I don’t feel any delays were due to the work done on our side … our county administrator and attorney have done all that they can do to make this happen. It will be great to finally have these services available.”

Answering questions from committee members, Hinds explained that, “We have an awful lot of work ahead of us this summer.” He went on to say that there were many renovations and cleaning to do at the site, but that he was optimistically looking at Labor Day as a possible date for classroom training to begin at the facility. He also reminded those present that there was still a $100,000 state grant — secured by then–Sen. Jim Wright for fire training — which can be used for renovation purposes through 2009. Other phases of the school planned on being developed will include, live fire training, smoke drills, confined space training, fire protection systems and Homeland Security weapons of mass destruction training.

Emergency 911 Program Director Mike Allen also spoke before the committee on Thursday, asking for consideration of creating a $100,000 capital project for communications for initial stages of the emergency radio system project. Allen revisited the creation of a three county and a five-county consortium that has been searching for funding sources and grant opportunities to help build a regional communications system meeting the inter-operational needs of the region, noting that Onondaga County has begun building a UHF trunked radio system and Madison County has been approved to begin building. He asked that the sum requested be allotted to retain the services of project specialists familiar with work similar to that being done in Onondaga and Madison Counties.

“This is the time to get this important project moving,” Leemann said. “I have had many recent meetings with Mike (Allen) and Phil (Church) and we finally have the information to get things moving. This is an extremely important project and we want to make sure that everything is done just right.”

The committee unanimously approved Allen’s request. The capital project will provide funding for assessment of the current radio system, conceptual design and budgetary projections, frequency allocation and preparatory work for the completion of a regional communication system.