Federal support no longer assured

By Joe Kelly

Instead of a metal roof, Norfolk’s new firehouse will likely be topped by asphalt shingles. The hose-drying tower won’t be so towering. Stone veneer siding along the base will disappear. Firetrucks will enter and exit through traditional (and less expensive) over-head doors. Carpeting? Furniture? It will be up to the firefighters to find all of that once the new building is up—it won’t be in the initial budget.

Plans for a new firehouse for Norfolk’s volunteer force continue to develop. But when initial budget estimates came in last year at $9.5 million, the town and the fire department looked for more ways to shave costs. It’s been a months-long process, and the hope is that changes in the roofing, tower, siding, doors and more will bring costs closer to $8.3 million.

“When the initial $9.5 [million] estimate was made last November, the drawings were only 60 percent complete,” noted First Assistant Fire Chief Matthew Ludwig. “Now we’re much further along.” A detailed construction estimate is expected sometime in March.

As for financing, the town has locked in $4.7 million—$2.5 million promised by the State of Connecticut and $2.2 million in pledges from Norfolk donors through an on-going capital campaign.

The rest of the $3-4 million in funding would come through a municipal bond to be paid off with local tax dollars. Everything has to be approved in advance by the town’s Finance Committee and then by a town vote, which has yet to be scheduled.

Noticeably missing from the proposed funding are any federal dollars. The town was hoping for as much as $1.5 million through programs for rural development administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That funding, approved in 2024 and listed on the websites of Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jahana Hayes, remains caught up in the ongoing deliberations in Washington over the fiscal year 2025 federal budget.