On Sunday, August 28, 2011 over two hundred guests assembled in the afternoon for the dedication for the Remington Carpenter Township Volunteer Fire Station. This station, planned for 5 ½ years, was open for tours, a brief ceremony, and refreshments. Several invited guests attended the ceremony. Fire Chief, Brad Idlewine began the program thanking the Town Council members, Brian Melchi, Susan Sigo, Charlie Illingworth, Pat Berger, Jim Stewart, and Clerk-Treasurer Kay Brown. He thanked the township board members, Gerald Sondgerath, Sam Lehe, Pat Powell, and Township Trustee Gloria Hawkes. Spokesperson for the town, Susie Sigo, Council Vice President commented how the plan for the station was to have it be paid for in cash. Thru the efforts of many patrons, the town, township, and a grant, the station is paid for in full. Senator Brandt Hershman addressed the crowd briefly about the character of the community; he was accompanied by his wife, Lisa. State Representative Douglas Gutwein was on hand and made comments he thought everyone should abide by, "Don't buy something until you can pay for it," speaking about the town and township's commitment to have the station paid for in full. Lane Ralph, Deputy State Director, representing US Senator Richard Lugar also made brief comments.
Attending the ceremony was Edwin Buswell, Executive Director of KIRPC and Randy Mitchell of KIRPC, as well as Gerry White, the NW Community Liaison for the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. KIRPC is the grant writer and grant administrator for the Town of Remington. The town received a $500,000 federal grant thru the state office of OCRA. Also attending the ceremonies were Jim Bradford, the PR director for NW Indiana Volunteer Firefighter's Association (IVFA), along with Buzz Koehler, a past President of IVFA. Giving the invocation for the dedication and the blessing of the station was the IVFA Chaplain, Ron Davenport.
The grant process was long, with many steps. The $500,000 grant was a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in the disaster recovery round. There was $95 million dollars for disaster recovery for disasters in 2008 for areas that received federal declaration of a disaster. The flooding in Remington in 2008 qualified the town for the grant. The grant process included an income survey, archaeological study, public hearings, environmental review, and letters of support. The fire station has a service area of 130 square miles. The fire station construction costs were provided by the $500,000 grant, and $830,657 local match. The local match came from town, town TIF, and township funds. A separate pass-thru account was established with the Jasper Foundation totaling nearly $30,000 that provided the funds for items needed that fell outside the grant. Those items paid for by the Jasper Foundation funds were the kitchen cabinets, floor vinyl and carpeting, window blinds, landscaping, flag poles, and some of the office furniture.
Donors to the Jasper Foundation pass-thru account were: Mr. & Mrs. John Overbeck, The Hageman Foundation, Remington Seeds, Remington Farmers Mutual Insurance, Impact Forge Group LLC Omni Plant, Bank of Wolcott, Dr. & Mrs. James Castor, Biddle Farms, Fair Oaks Farm Supply, First Merchants Corp/Lafayette Bank & Trust, Mr. & Mrs. Stan Virkler, Fox Insurance Agency/C&L Burns, Schneider Electric Inc., Industrial Pallet & Fibertech, Mr. & Mrs. Doug Bledsoe, Mr. & Mrs. Rich Armold, Ulyat Trucking, Gratner INC/KFC, Goodwin Fire Equipment, Patricia Berger, Clapper Funeral Services INC, Attorney John Casey, BLRN Enterprise INC, Mrs. Louis Shelmon, Remington/Goodland/Wolcott Mini Storage, Mr. & Dr. Larry Yerk, Dr. & Mrs. Gib Crimmins.
Special thanks also to the following people, who donated items to the Remington Carpenter Township Fire Department. Those were: Remington Ag Partnership, Town of Remington, Town of Remington Employees, Carpenter Township Board, Chuck & Dennis Farrell, C & K Designs/Crystal Kellner, Clark's Cutting Edge INC., Culp's Trucking & Excavating INC., Susan Sigo, and members of the Remington Carpenter Township Volunteer Fire Department.
The following entities provided specific services to make the project possible. Thank you to The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), Kankakee Iroquois Regional Planning Commission (KIRPC), Tom Brock-Architect & Associates, Mike McIntyre-Assistant Architect, Hamstra Builders, Inc., Town of Remington, Carpenter Township Board, Remington Redevelopment Commission, Jasper Foundation INC, D & K Electric, Rite-Way Seal Systems, Cardinal Office Products, Phil Isabell Cabinets & Countertops, Demotte Carpet INC, Tyler's Window Fashions-Gene & Mary Tyler, Flagpoles-Flags-Etc-Chuck & Dennis Farrell, Clark's Cutting Edge Inc., C & K Designs Upper Case Living-Crystal Kellner, Culp's Trucking & Excavating, Inc., Gilbert Trucking & Excavating, and Homestead Buttery and Bakery.
The new fire station, about 11,500 square feet, has five apparatus bays, a radio room, turnout gear storage and dressing area, chief's office, assistant chief's office, meeting/training room, restrooms with showers, utility/storage room, and kitchen. The upstairs mezzanine is for storage and training. The firefighters had purchased a 10-burner industrial Imperial stove and an industrial size True brand refrigerator and held in storage the past three years. The apparatus bay has radiant floor heating, and after construction had a sealant applied to the floor of which cost was divided by the Town of Remington and Carpenter Township. Currently, sixteen firefighters are volunteers for the Remington Carpenter Township Fire Department. They are: Fire Chief- Brad Idlewine, Assistant Fire Chief-Mike Martin, Mark Jones, Bruce Messersmith, Tom Kleist, Jim Miller, Brad Jeffries, Ryan Byrd, Braden Clark, Clayton Bise, John Shellcrosslee, Eric Baugh, Rodney Minick, Nick Jones, Jim Miller Jr, and Josh Furrer. The fire station serves as a fresh gateway to the community, and will accommodate future growth of the station. The old fire station will continue to house the Southern Jasper County Ambulance Service and the Remington Police Department.
|