By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster City Council is looking to prevent a repeat of an unpleasant surprise discovered earlier this year at one of the city’s fire stations.

In March, the council authorized emergency repairs to the city’s Fire Station No. 1 after renovation work uncovered extensive mold and drainage issues at the facility off First Avenue West.

During the repairs to Station No. 1, which have since been completed, firefighters based at Station No. 1 were relocated to other stations to allow the repairs to be completed.

Alabaster City Manager George Henry said the Station No. 1 situation arose because of a long-running undetected water leak at the building, and said a waterproof seal has since been applied to Station No. 1.

The council is now looking to apply the waterproof seal to fire stations No. 2 and No. 3 to prevent a repeat of the Station No. 1 situation.

“We’ve had to deal with those two stations leaking,” Henry said. “Station 2 and 3, if left unchecked, could become like Station 1 was.

“We are not replacing the roof. This is just a little preventative maintenance,” Henry added.

If approved, each roof seal will cost about $17,000, and will take between 30-45 days to apply.