Setauket Fire District Turns to Community for Ideas on Main Street Fire House Upgrades

The Setauket Fire District wants you – and not just in the usual capacity of volunteer firefighters.

The district is hoping to upgrade its Main Street firehouse in East Setauket, and whether it be through renovation, rebuilding, relocation – or whatever else is suggested – it is forming a community group to explore options for how residents think those improvements should be achieved.

"If you look today, the firehouse on Main Street is the same one that’s been there since 1935. We’re extending an invitation to the community to partner with us and determine the future of the Main Street firehouse," commissioner Greg Perricone said at Monday night's meeting of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook.

Calling the firehouse a "civic icon" that symbolizes civility and care in a community, Perricone invited residents, civic activists, and members of local government to participate in a series of meetings starting Tuesday, April 12 at 7 p.m. at the district's Hulse Road headquarters.

Perricone said the district is hoping to achieve improvements to the firehouse's garage, meeting room, bunks, locker rooms, restrooms, ready room and storage facilities, as well as make the building's front apron set back farther from Route 25A. It's too early to discern a roundabout cost, he said, but some of the groundwork is already complete – including architectural plans and environmental impact studies completed in 2008, when the community rejected at least one fire district bond proposal.

He said the district learned an important lesson from that experience: listen to the community.

"Previous boards [of commissioners] really didn't hear what the community had to say," he said. "You've got to ask. You can't dictate."

Perricone's announcement inspired a lively response among the residents present at the meeting, many of whom lauded the decision to ask people what they think.

"I think you have a far better chance of getting something done by approaching the community this way," said one resident.

The Setauket Fire District has cut spending in recent years, including reductions in equipment and overtime and holiday pay for employees, resulting in in the tax levy for 2010 and 2011.

The Setauket Fire District, which funds the Setauket Fire Department, covers about 28 square miles and serves Setauket, East Setauket, Old Field, sections of Stony Brook University and its hospital, and parts of Stony Brook, Lake Grove, Centereach, Port Jefferson, and Port Jefferson Station.