Village of Horseheads conducting engineering study on two public buildings

HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WENY) -- The Village of Horseheads has taken the first step towards potentially upgrading the Village Department of Public Works and Pool Building.

Thursday night, the Village Board of Trustees approved a resolution to greenlight an engineering study on both buildings to be performed by Hunt Engineers, Architect and Surveyors. The study is slated to start in late October or early November. It will last for about eight weeks and cost the village $9,800.

At the meeting, Horseheads Village Mayor Kevin Adams called the move the first step towards understanding both building's disrepair, calling the facilities subpar.

When the study is complete, Hunt Engineers will present their findings to the board and make recommendations to remodel, renovate, or rebuild the structures.

The Town of Horseheads is also conducting a similar study on its DPW facilities. Mayor Adams suggested the municipalities may be able to collaborate and pool their resources to get necessary repairs done.

The move by the board comes on the heels of a similar engineering study done on the Horseheads Village Fire Department, which was also performed by Hunt Engineers. As a result of that study, Hunt cited numerous issues with the department's building. If all issues were to be fixed, it would cost the village $8 million. It would cost the village $9 to $14 million to build a new fire department.

RELATED: Horseheads Village Fire Department in Need of Repairs, Upgrades

Considering the steep bills the Village could be facing in the eye of these repairs and upgrades, Adams said they are still trying to figure out how the municipality could pay for it and still get value out of the projects.