Concerned residents and volunteer firefighters packed village offices Tuesday as questions surfaced about the proposed new Oriskany firehouse project.
Earlier this month, fire officials released a statement on plans for a new building at the current location of Waterbury Square, Inc., in the section of the building where the roof collapsed just more than a year ago. Chief Jeffrey Burkhart said during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled village board meeting that the department had been leasing the section that faces River Street for $1 a year for over two years, and had been storing equipment there.
The overwhelming concern of area residents at Tuesday’s meeting was that the village was “kept in the dark” about the fire department’s plans, only first being informed by what they saw in the local media. They complained that not even village trustees were made aware.