LIBERTY - Township officials are hoping some personal time with their elected representatives could help them collect money to build a new central fire station.
Administrator Pat Ungaro, Trustee Jodi Stoyak and fire Chief Michael Durkin were set to travel to Washington, D.C., last week to seek help on building a new fire station on property next to the township administration building on Churchill Road. They are looking for either stimulus funds or other types of grant money, Ungaro said.
''We want any kind of grant money we can get,'' he said. ''There's no guarantee we're going to get it - but we're going to go for it.''
The officials had meetings scheduled with U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, and either Sen. George Voinovich, R-Cleveland, or a representative. They also had plans to meet with Voinovich's counterpart, Sherrod Brown, D-Avon Lake, before returning home.
Durkin estimated the price of a new station at around $1.3 million. He and Stoyak met with an architect prior to the trip to discuss the project.
Durkin has wanted a fire station in a central location for the last several years for both safety and cost-cutting reasons. The department has two stations, one on Loganway, which was built in the 1960s, and one on Belmont Avenue, which was built in the 1970s.
Ungaro and Durkin have both fretted over the aging condition of both buildings, which lead to higher maintenance costs as well as the duplication of things in both stations.
Stoyak said, ''It is wasteful for us to continue the way we are operating with these two fire stations.''