Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, announced that $2.5 million in funding she requested for the construction and relocation of a new Naval Support Activity (NSA) Cutler Firehouse was included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill. The bill was passed by the Appropriations Committee by a vote of 25-5 and will now be considered by the full Senate.
“The construction and relocation of a new NSA Cutler Firehouse will help ensure the brave firemen and women can continue to protect lives and property at Cutler and in the surrounding communities,” said Senator Collins. “The current fire station is approximately 70 years old and has significant structural deficiencies that pose safety concerns. As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I strongly advocated on behalf of NSA Cutler Fire Department to include this critical project in the funding bill, and I will continue to champion this investment as the process moves forward.”
If enacted into law, the Navy will use this funding to begin planning for a replacement firehouse at NSA Cutler. The existing fire station has difficulty meeting its mission requirements in its current condition and location, which is over 20 minutes away from the transmitter site. The federal fire department also provides mutual aid to local communities – the nearest on-call department is 53 miles away and the nearest full-time department is 75 miles away. A recent Naval Facilities Engineering Command Facility Assessment recommended that a new fire station be constructed at the VLF site in order to ensure the station can effectively carry out its mission.
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