County Closing In On Fire Training School Acquisition

OSWEGO COUNTY, NY – Oswego County is nearing the end of the acquisition process to become the legal owner of the fire training facility in Oswego.

“The legal paperwork has been completed,” County Administrator Phil Church said. “We expect to receive the papers for the closing soon in the mail.”

Church said the last item that will be addressed is a waiver that is needed from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

“There is a 60-day notification of the transfer of property from National Grid to the county,” Church said. He explained that the notice is required because of remediation work that National Grid did on the property.

“We’ve requested a waiver of the 60-day requirement so that we can get in sooner to renovate and make the school operational again,” he said.

“There is no word yet on the waiver,” Church noted. “We’ve made the request and so has National Grid.”

The prediction at this time is that the county could start classroom training at the school as early as this fall, Church said.

Church pointed out that the county does not have keys to the facility yet. Because of the amount of time that the facility has been vacant, fire coordinator John Hinds has said that it is possible that the equipment that is used for fire training will have to be repaired and restored before fire trainings can begin.

“Every time that we’ve gone in, a National Grid representative has gone in with us,” Church said.

Church noted that Hinds and county representatives from Buildings and Grounds have been in to inspect the facility. He pointed out, however, that a full assessment has not been completed yet.

The fire school is made up of nine buildings on a 20-acre site on East Seneca Street in Oswego. Designed to train emergency responders, the school was the only certified training facility in Oswego County until National Grid opted to close the facility. Regarded as a gift from the company, the county is purchasing the facility for $20.

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