The Pendleton projects and equipment paid for by a $10 million fire bond remain under budget, but cuts had to be made to keep it that way.
Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo told the Pendleton City Council Tuesday that the fire station needed to cut $2 million in features to stay on target.
In an interview after the meeting, Ciraulo explained that the cuts were the result of an updated construction cost estimate.
Under a previous fire department administration, officials estimated it would take $7.7 million in construction costs to build a new fire station. The department operated under that estimate through the bond’s successful May 2017 election, but the numbers changed once design firm Mackenzie and contractor McCormack Construction took an updated look on the costs. Their estimates now say it would take $10 million to get the project built.