News 12 at 6 o'clock, January 6, 2010

HARLEM, Ga.---The Graniteville train wreck was an eye opener for many other cities with railroads.

For years, Harlem has been trying to move one of it's fire stations away from the tracks and now that goal is looking more like a reality.

Expanding and moving the Public Safety headquarters has been high on Harlem's to do list for about seven years, and now it may actually happen.

Just about 20 feet from the railroad tracks is the fire station, right in the heart of Harlem.

"Should there be some type of disaster in the center of town it would basically make that station non useful," says Harlem councilman John Thigpen.

A disaster like everyone saw in Graniteville just five years ago. A devastating warning for the city of Harlem.

"It's a great thing to move us away from there so that our first responders at least have vehicles to respond with," says Harlem Public Safety Chief Jesse Bowman.

"The Graniteville incident was an eye opener for a lot of cities in this area," adds Thigpen.

Moving the station has been on an immediate needs list since 2006. "It's something that needs to be done, should have been done many many years ago," says Chief Bowman.

In years past, the funds just haven't been there, but the city has plans for things to look different with grants and S.P.L.O.S.T. funds. City leaders also say expanding the police station and moving the two departments under one roof would help.

"We're probably busting at the seams now," says Chief Bowman.

"The growth from Columbia County has been slowing moving this way and we've been aggressively trying to prepare for that," adds Thigpen.

Prepare for that, and prevent something like Graniteville. "Public safety has got to be number one. You've got to be able to prove to businesses coming here to families coming here that we can protect them," says Chief Bowman.

"Were just trying to aggressively make Harlem just a better place to live," adds Thigpen.

One of the properties the city is looking at is a building just a couple of blocks away. The Harlem Mayor, Bobby Culpepper owns it.

It's been appraised at $181,000 but we're told Culpepper has been asking closer to $300,000 for years because of the location and historical background.

City leaders also say they came to Mayor Culpepper years about the property years before he took office. They also say he does not take part in meetings or discussions about the sale.