By KRWG News
Las Cruces – The Dona Ana Board of County Commissioners approved funding from a fire tax budget to begin construction of a county Emergency & Hazmat Response Station near Santa Teresa.
A federal grant to build the station was awarded two years ago, but the money was held up in Santa Fe until recently being released to the county. Now that the county is closer to breaking ground, a shift in construction costs meant finding an additional $218,533.75 to start the first phase, which could be covered using funds from the county's fire tax budget, as proposed by Do a Ana County Fire Marshal Robert Monsivaiz, and approved by the representatives of the board that represents all 16 volunteer fire districts.
The building will be used for hazardous-materials responses in southern Do a Ana County, particularly at the Do a Ana County Airport at Santa Teresa. Now that the funding is in place, the county is positioned to initiate the bidding process for actual construction.
Dona Ana County Manager Brian Haines applauded the efforts of the Fire Tax Board, the Fire Marshal's Office and the Facilities and Parks Department for working together to find ways to move the project forward.
"I want to publicly acknowledge the efforts of the representatives on the Fire Tax Board," Haines said. "When we were in a pinch, and it looked like this project could stall because of funding, you came through with a solution that will improve the efficiency of these services in Do a Ana County."