Steve Cox of Cox Architecture in McComb presented his plan for Brookhaven’s proposed fire station to the Board of Aldermen Tuesday.

At a previous board meeting Mayor Joe Cox announced that Brookhaven would likely receive state funds to construct a new fire station.

“I’m here to ask you to consider Cox Architecture for the fire station project,” Steve Cox said. “This morning we actually had a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest fire station in McComb — station No. 3 in east McComb.”

Steve Cox oversaw the entire process, from designing, bidding and construction of the building. At Tuesday’s meeting, he showed the board a video of the design he created for McComb and would like to restructure it to meet Brookhaven’s fire station needs.

“One of the things I do when I design is use a 3D model,” Steve Cox said as he walked the board through his design. “I do all the work myself. I don’t have to rely on somebody else. The McComb station has six rooms, each with two beds and a locker. There are two bathrooms for that area with a shower and lavatory. There is a day room and kitchen, a small office and a small public toilet. McComb’s building was roughly 4,600 square feet.”

The design included a storage area that would also be fortified as a storm shelter. It will be a concrete block and roof deck with a concrete fill that has reinforcing steel inside.

“The station is a pre-engineered metal building with a brick veneer,” Steve Cox said. “Since we went with a brick veneer, the exterior walls are frame walls and stud walls — we used steel studs. The only components that are pre-engineered metal are the main structure and then the roof structure.”

The McComb fire station sits on approximately an acre of land, he said.

“The project costs around $630,000 — that was the bid amount,” Steve Cox said. “Of course you’ll have other expenses like architect fees, a survey of the property, soil boring and testing — we’ve got to make sure we’ve got the right foundation for the building.”

Steve Cox said he had experience in building and renovating other fire stations, municipal buildings and schools.

“The first project I ever did for the city of McComb was the original fire station No. 3,” he said. “We took an old phone company’s shop building and turned it into the fire station. I’ve renovated the downtown McComb station. I designed the Thames Center at Co-Lin and the chapel next to the administration building. I did work on the Lampton Auditorium when the roof looked like it was about to fall in. I also did the Pike County FEMA building and the Copiah County FEMA shelter.”

He said one benefit of using his firm is that he works with the same engineers on various projects. If the city were to grant him the job, Cox said he would use the same engineers that did work on the McComb fire station.

Brookhaven expects to receive $625,000 in state funding for the project.

Fire Chief Tony Weeks, the mayor and the board have been pitching the city’s need to replace Fire Station 2 on Willard Street to different sources for the last two and a half years, Joe Cox said.

The state will administer the funds for the new fire station in July when the new fiscal year begins. The board didn’t take any action on the architect’s proposal. It plans to wait until the city receives the funding to do so.

Williams Street bridge

County engineer Ryan Holmes updated the board Tuesday on repairs occurring on the Williams Street bridge.

“The Williams Street bridge is going well,” Holmes said. “I was down there today. They’ve got two rows of pilings that have been driven. They will probably start setting one span of the bridge back on tomorrow.”

Holmes said if all goes according to plan and weather permitting, S&S Dragline Services will finish the bridge repairs by next week.

The bridge on Williams Street partially collapsed last month while contractors were paving the street. No injuries were reported.

The bridge is part of the Mississippi Local System Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program, which tracks the state’s approximately 11,000 county and locally owned bridges to determine the need to repair and replace them every year.

“The bridge was posted as being in good condition the last time we inspected it,” Holmes said. “We were not planning on having to replace this bridge.”

The board awarded the project to S&S Dragline Services for $57,450.