CORTLAND — City officials are waiting to hear about the awarding of federal funds for constructing a new fire station, and one possible location for such a building is the former Lakeview Elementary School off Pearl Street.

Mayor Deidre Petrosky said at a recent council meeting that officials are waiting on a possible $4.5 million from the 2026 federal budget for a new safety complex. She said the fire department has $500,000 saved for that project, which is from a capital improvement levy passed by voters in 2020.

Petrosky said city officials are looking at a new fire building instead of remodeling the current fire station. She said property behind the administration building and the elementary school property are both being considered as locations.

Council President Kevin Piros said the original plan was for a safety-service complex, but the project was scaled back to just a fire station because of cost. Prios said a fire department building could cost between $3 and $4 million, noting the fire department needs more space because of all the equipment.

“We have discussed bringing the elementary school property into the mix as a potential site. That property can provide a great use of space for a fire department,” Piros said.

Piros said officials are hopeful the structure will be torn down this year or early 2026.

Officials said there is $2.5 million in State Capital Infrastructure Funds available, about $4.5 million listed as pending in the 2026 federal budget and roughly $500,000 in local capital-improvement levy savings available.

Council members have cautioned that federal funds are not guaranteed and said contingency planning is underway.

Officials have said some of the previously allocated capital funds were used for preliminary drawings and that roughly $1.7 million remains encumbered in design contracts, with about $200,000 still committed to architecture services.

Resident Rita Dodd asked the status of the former elementary school building.

Petrosky said all environmental studies and inspections on the building have been completed and turned into the Trumbull County Land Bank for review. She said the land bank will determine if any additional information is needed before seeking bids for demolition of the building.

FLOODING ISSUES

In other business, resident Joe Ciulla said after a recent heavy rain there was a lot of flooding on Southdale, North and South Colonial, and Heritage Lane.

He asked officials if the storm sewers are working since there was so much flooding in those areas.

Piros said any time there is any flooding or backups to notify city hall so crews can be sent out to see if there is any blockage. He said city crews can keep an eye on certain areas where there have been flooding issues, noting crews also can check to see if there is an issue with catch basins.