BUDA — The Buda Fire Department’s (BFD) main station, located off of FM 2770, was slated to be completed in October 2023, yet more than a year later, BFD Chief Clay Huckaby revealed that construction has come to a standstill.
Seidel Construction operated as the general contractor on this project prior to termination Jan. 17. Pictured, two pieces of material fail to connect, so concrete acts as a “filler.”
According to the chief, Hays County Emergency Services District No. 8 (ESD 8) began the initial work for the facility back in 2018 and 2019 by completing tours at 30 fire stations across the state, where members of ESD 8 and BFD noted elements that they liked and didn’t like from each station, along with a feasibility study, to be put forward in the new construction. Then, ESD 8 began the design in 2020, placed bids in summer of 2022 and acquired a loan — backed by taxpayer funds — said Huckaby.
Ultimately, Seidel Construction of New Braunfels was selected as the general contractor for a construction period of September 2022 through October 2023, though this would prove to bring issues in the future, Huckaby explained.
“We had some construction issues that we brought up and had some concerns,” he began. “Once we realized we didn’t get substantial completion in October of ’23, we reached out to the bonding company, which is Great American Insurance Company, [in February 2024] with our concerns. They came down and attempted to get the project restarted and going in the right direction and things continued to deteriorate into the summer.”
Now, the chief explained that the fire department has had to get attorneys involved, as Seidel Construction was ultimately terminated Jan. 17, 2025, “due to default of the construction documents or construction contract.”
The building, continued Huckaby, appears completed to those passing by, but there are actually multiple discrepancies in the construction.
The chief noted that there are still no lighting fixtures and electrical running, there is a missing light pole, spots on the exterior of the building, where insulation is exposed and more: “[It] may look cosmetic, but it also serves a purpose of waterproofing … The other day when it rained, we had water coming inside the fire station through the roof. So, there’s stuff like that.”
The Buda Fire Department’s main station was set for completion in October 2023, but more than a year later, construction has halted. Pictured, electric wires are exposed due to incorrect placement of a security device.
Although the general contractor has been paid approximately 95% of the total contract — $19,951,786.57 of an estimated $21.5 million, with the latest payout Dec. 16, 2024, as the building was never fully completed — Huckaby stated that the some subcontractors have walked off of the job prior to the termination after, allegedly, not being paid by Seidel Construction.
Currently, attorneys are working with the bonding company to find a path forward. Whether this will be with a new contractor or bringing the previous contractor back with new subcontractors is unknown, though it is estimated to be another year until the facility is ready.
Not only are there multiple construction issues, but employees have not yet inhabited the facility, as they don’t want to take ownership of a building that is incomplete and not to their standards.
“We had hired staff for this station to put them in October ’23 … and it was like, ‘Man, if we don’t have anywhere to put them, we’re going to lose all these potential employees.’ So, we actually went ahead and hired the staff and we have them at station two, some at station three and here in a mock facility next door,” said Huckaby.
Offices were also vacated to be transformed into temporary living quarters for the firefighters and paramedics.
ESD 8 has also had additional expenses, as furniture that was ordered for the opening of the fire station has been sitting in storage for more than a year.
“We want to be in the facility. We want to showcase the facility to the citizens, show them what we’ve done to provide a service to the community. It’s going to be a great facility once it’s done. It has full living quarters up there for firefighters and paramedics to run fire and EMS out of. We also have command staff that will be stationed here daily to respond out of, as well. All of our administration staff that is spread out amongst all the different stations are going to come here and be at one location. We also have a brand new training facility, a training room that’s large enough, not only for our use, but for community use. If the community [and] different organizations want to come down and host events in our community room, we’ll have that space here. So, we’re pretty excited about what is going to be here,” the chief said.
“The key is we want to do what’s right with the taxpayers’ funds and we want the station to be done, but we want it to be done correctly. We don’t want to be in a station, one that’s going to have potential construction issues and have ramifications down the road that’s going to cost the taxpayers money to come back and fix it again in the future because it wasn’t done right the first time. That’s why we elected to go the route [we are]. We’re going to make sure that it is done right the first time,” concluded Huckaby.
Seidel Construction did not respond to a request for comment.
