Since the East Carnegie Volunteer Fire Department joined Scott Township Emergency Medical Service in January, the service has been working on a plan to build a headquarters facility on township-owned property above Chartiers Terrace abutting Ursula Drive and Greentree Road.

The nonprofit organization with 28 full-time and seven part-time employees answers 2,200 calls a year from its current command base in St. Clair Memorial Hospital.

Operations are based in the Glendale and Bower Hill Volunteer Fire stations, but Patrick Mulligan, president of the STEMS board of directors, told Scott Commissioners Oct. 9 that the organization needs a centrally located home.

The group is proposing a 56,000-square-foot, one-story cement building containing two offices, separate men's and women's bunks and restrooms, a classroom and a four-bay garage with a driveway onto Greentree Road.

The building is proposed for a 170-feet-by-25-feet lot that could be either leased or donated to STEMS. Thirty-four parking spaces would be provided, too.

Residents in nearby Chartiers Terrace, a 200-family housing development built by the federal government but purchased by residents as a cooperative in the early 1950s, were assured that there would not be an alert whistle or volunteers showing up for emergency calls.

Instead, the facility will be manned 24 hours a day by crews. No events like bingos, carnivals or hall rentals will take place at the site.

There are no construction estimates, but Tom Salerno, a STEMS director, said the organization would seek funding and grants. Taxpayer dollars would not be used.

Commissioner David Calabria said the site wouldn't qualify for a traffic signal on Greentree Road but that an emergency traffic device with a flashing light to warn motorists of emerging ambulances might be a good idea. Lights, not sirens, are used at nighttime.

Mr. Mulligan was amenable to the suggestions.

"Whatever we need to do to make this safe, we'll do," he said.

Mr. Salerno added, "When they open Providence Point [a retirement community now under construction between Kane Boulevard and Green Commons Drive in Scott], we're going to pick up a lot more calls."

Scott Commissioners took no action, but board President Tom Castello promised officials would discuss the project.

"Once we get the OK, we're prepared to hire professional services, like an architect and engineer," said Mr. Mulligan. "We're real excited about this."

STEMS was organized in 1997 with the Bower Hill and Glendale fire departments.

First Published: October 25, 2007, 10:00 a.m.