OLD TOWN – Council members are still looking for a temporary home for the Fire Department while renovations are made to the public safety building.

A couple of options are being considered, City Manager Peggy Daigle said Wednesday.

One would be to use the Georgia-Pacific Corp. garage on the Penny Road. It is part of property the city recently bought.

The major problem is that the gravel road is not suitable for use by fire rescue vehicles and would be costly to pave, according to Daigle. Other parties also are interested in buying the building, she said.

Another option is to build a permanent storage building that would be used for additional public works and airport equipment storage after the Fire Department is finished with it as a temporary home.

In exploring costs, the two options are about equal, Daigle said.

Response time to emergency calls is a major factor in the temporary location decision.

“It’s trying to make sure that in finding a temporary location for [the Fire Department] we don’t sell short service to the citizens,” Daigle said Wednesday in a phone interview.

Asbestos already has been removed from the public safety building, which is the former City Hall, fire and police headquarters. Construction is expected to begin in January.

As for finding a permanent home for City Hall, the council decided at Monday’s meeting to allow Daigle to continue working on a solution and bring a recommendation back to councilors in the near future.

Town Attorney Bob Miller also was given the green light to continue working on a solution for the disposition of the former Helen Hunt School, which has several deed restrictions that make the process difficult.

In the case of the former Herbert Gray School, the council is expected to act on accepting it as a city property at its next meeting, then move forward with the demolition of the building, which they previously voted to do.

“Primarily, [the school’s board of trustees] recommended that the land still stay available to the school or for the benefit of youth in the city of Old Town,” Daigle said.