North Amityville Fire Company officials are trying to work with its contractor, Eugene Racanelli, to get its long delayed renovation project completed.

Construction on the North Amityville Fire Department headquarters is more than six months behind schedule, but officials from the department said they continue to work with the contractor, Eugene Racananelli Construction Company, in the hope of getting the project moving forward.

"There are a number of issues that we are working out with them," said Salvatore Sapienza of Massapequa, the attorney representing the fire department. "We continue to try and make sure that the job is fully manned in a fashion that will get us a completion as soon as possible."

Work still needs to be completed on the inside of the building, including completion of the electrical and heating systems.

In the meantime, the department is storing its fire apparatus at its other stations, as well as outside. "We are taking proper precautions to protect the equipment," said Sapienza.

Efforts to gain a response from the contractor, Eugene Racanelli, were unsuccessful. His office asked that the Record newspaper forward a list of questions to him, which it did, but despite several phone calls he never responded to those questions.

In February, it was reported that the project was stalled as a result of several setbacks, including the discovery of asbestos in some of the older pipes in the building, which was built in 1954. In addition, several abandoned cesspools were found on the site and had to be filled in before the construction.

That not only held the project up for three months, but added costs of approximately $89,000, according to James MacGruder, the fire company’s project coordinator. That money will be made up in part by the $4.5 million bond approved by voters in 2001, and through a contingency fund that was built into the project’s financial package, said officials at that time.

Sapienza said he did not have current figures on how and if the delay had added even more costs to the project, but said that the contractor has only been paid for the work that has been completed and certified by the fire company’s architect.

The North Amityville Fire Company is exempt from oversight from the Town of Babylon, but Peter Casserly, the Town’s Commissioner of Planning, said that he has been in touch with fire company officials and offered the town’s assistance in getting the project moving forward. "We offered to intercede in any way, shape or form in trying to assist them in negotiating getting this project completed," said Casserly. "We offered to bring whatever pressure we can on the contractor to get the job done, but they have chosen to handle it themselves."

Sapienza said fire company officials want to continue to work with the contractor because they believe that is the best option. He added, however, that if their efforts fail they will proceed and the issue could end up in litigation.

"That’s not something we want to do," he said.