The contract for the study is in the amount of $66,250.

According to Fire Chief Denis McCarthy, the study is being conducted in response to a request made by the Common Council last spring when McCarthy proposed a $14 million project to build a new fire headquarters at 100 Fairfield Ave., where the department's support services building currently exists. On March 23, 2006, McCarthy submitted a letter to Mayor Richard Moccia denouncing an earlier proposal to renovate the Volk Central Fire Station at 121 Connecticut Ave. Instead, he recommended selling that property and developing a new facility at 100 Fairfield Ave. to house the administrative offices, the maintenance division and the fire marshal's office, as well as the fire company that serves that district. The council at that time voted to "evaluate the proposal further" to ensure that the money would be wisely spent, explained McCarthy.

The purpose of the new study is fourfold. Its first two objectives, which are in direct response to concerns voiced by council members over McCarthy's proposal last spring, are to determine whether 100 Fairfield Ave. is the optimum location to build the headquarters and to determine whether renovating the old building or constructing a new one in its place would be more cost-effective. Third, the consultant will evaluate the need for a sixth fire station in the Cranbury section and consider the placement of all stations in Norwalk to "make sure that our station location pattern provides the best coverage, the fastest service and the best insurance rating for the City of Norwalk," McCarthy said. Lastly, the consultant will determine a funding plan for any proposals that come out of the first three objectives.

McCarthy explained to the council that Pacheco Ross was one of two finalists in the bidding process and was chosen because it provided the lowest bid by about $10,000 and because McCarthy found its proposal to be "head and shoulders" above the other.

"What the council asked for a year ago was a full analysis of the proposal [for a new headquarters building] and its impact on all things related to fire service delivery and the financial impact to the city," McCarthy said. "We're confident that Pacheco Ross can deliver that for us."

Although the study received unanimous support at the meeting, not all of the council members were certain it was necessary. On Wednesday, Kevin Poruban, D-At Large, said the study seems to him to be a repeat of a very similar study conducted in December 2004 by the Matrix Consulting Group for a cost of $55,000. The Matrix study analyzed many of the same things the Pacheco Ross study will include and offered recommendations for short-, medium- and long-term solutions. In the medium term, the Matrix report suggested that the Volk fire station be renovated for a cost of about $2.5 million. In the long term, it recommended that a new fire station be built in the vicinity of the Merritt 7 complex.

The Matrix study was a "pretty thorough analysis," said Poruban. He noted that though members of the Fire Department and others seemed disappointed that the construction of a new fire headquarters would be several years away under this recommendation, the project easily could have been moved up if the necessary funds were available. Poruban said he believes the city has decided to "reinvent the wheel" by conducting this new study so that officials in place since the last one Moccia, McCarthy and council President Michael Coffey can "put their own handprint" on the headquarters' future.