VALLONIA — Constructed in 1953, the Driftwood Township Volunteer Fire Department’s station was built to house the size of firetrucks at that time.

Nowadays, the trucks are larger, and departments have other vehicles as part of their fleet.

Driftwood Township has simply outgrown its 68-year-old building.

That’s why letters recently were mailed to random township residents in hopes they will fill out the enclosed income survey that will help determine eligibility to apply for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant Public Facilities Program grant to fund a new fire station.

The goals of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs program are to improve quality of place, generate jobs and spur economic revitalization.

Those eligible for funding include removal of architectural barriers for Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility, community centers, day care centers, facilities for special needs groups, fire/emergency medical services stations, health care centers, historic preservation, learning centers, libraries, senior centers and youth centers.

The letter sent to township residents states the grant is a good opportunity to cover the cost of the project and not place an undue burden on local tax revenue, and it will ultimately save residents hundreds of thousands of dollars on the much-needed fire station.

Once residents complete the survey, they should place it in the stamped return envelope and mail it. The surveys must be received by Dec. 10 to be counted.

The responses are confidential, and fire department personnel won’t see the surveys, as residents are assigned a code number that corresponds to their address. The surveys will be tallied by Key Research, which is certified by the state.

OCRA will review the level of grant assistance requested and consider the appropriateness of the project’s scope, the level of demonstrated need and the financial resources of the applicant.

If OCRA determines a lesser amount is appropriate, it may be necessary to revise the project before it is submitted in final form. A local match of 10% of the total project cost will be required for consideration of funding.

Fire Chief Clint Wolka said talk recently picked up about seeking funding for a new station since the department has two other buildings — one housing a rescue truck and an office that was built about 10 years ago and the other with meeting space. The goal is to have everything in one building.

Talk really started whenever a new pumper tanker was bought in 2018.

“Trucks are just getting bigger and bigger. They are not small like they used to be, so our doorways in that old building are almost too small,” Wolka said. “The current trucks that are being manufactured, we literally basically just have inches on each side of the mirror coming out of the door, so we really, really have to pay careful, close attention not to hit the mirrors on the sides of the doors when coming in and backing out.”

Department personnel had talked about modifying the current building by making the doors bigger or adding a bay to the two existing ones.

Once a nearby lot along Main Street between the station and post office was purchased in November 2020, though, Wolka said members agreed they wanted to build a new building.

“Everything is all adjoined then,” he said. “We’re looking to build a fire station that the doors, we would pull out right onto Main Street.”

He said they are looking at a building that has four bays and is 80 to 90 feet long across the front and goes back about 80 to 100 feet.

The two engines, tanker and rescue truck will be housed there along with possibly keeping the brush truck and three UTVs there, too, Wolka said.

The new station also would have an office for officers to utilize, a large meeting room with a kitchenette and men’s and women’s restrooms with shower facilities and a laundry room.

“So that way, if we do come back from a run, we can take a shower there and then have a laundry room and everything to clean our gear in,” Wolka said. “We don’t even have any of that right now — a laundry place to wash gear, clean up.”

Wolka said the department will still keep its current buildings. The one next to Bluebird Cafe is used when firefighters have their fish fry fundraisers.

Counting Wolka and Assistant Fire Chief Mark Bonebright, Driftwood Township has 21 volunteer firefighters.

“The department will keep growing as time goes on,” Wolka said. “We’ve expanded and grown over just the last 10 years in equipment. We’ve just outgrown that one little building that we’ve got. It’s plumb full right now.”

Trena Carter with Administrative Resources association of Columbus is assisting Driftwood Township with the survey and grant process.

“We’re in a really strong need for it, that’s for sure,” Wolka said of a new station. “Hopefully, this survey comes back and we fall into that right range so that we can even apply. This is the first step. Hopefully, everything comes back good and we can proceed with the grant and get it going.”