Fire Station 4 Planning

Fire Station #4 Study Highlights
Presented by Fire Chief Jeff Funai and Firemedic Drew Marchand
on September 8, 2020 during a special study session of City Council Public Safety Committee
 

• Fire Chief Jeff Funai led a team over the past year in a comprehensive study to determine the safety needs and costs associated with adding a fourth Fire Station in the City of Green. This study is in response to Ordinance 2019-08A, which requested this study and allocated $3 million from the unencumbered balance of the pipeline fund.  
• Study measured benchmarks including square mileage, number of addresses, population, fire division’s historic call volume, 4-minute travel time and 8-minute travel time to determine the best way to decrease response times to the southwest quadrant of the City.
• Team considered a number of options including:
  1. mutual aid from neighboring departments;
  2. relocating Station #1 further to the southwest;
  3. creating a joint fire station with a neighboring department; and
  4. constructing a 4^th fire station.
• Of these four considerations: constructing fire station #4 in the southwest quadrant of the City provides the biggest increase in benchmarks including square miles (27% increase in coverage); number of addresses (8% increase in coverage); population (9% increase in coverage) and call volume (5% increase in coverage).
• Recommendation and plan details acquiring land in 2021 and hiring 6 additional firemedics to staff a 4^th medic unit; designing new fire station in 2022 with construction in 2023 and opening in 2024.
• Adding a 4^th medic unit in 2021, increases the fire operating budget as percentage of total City operating budget to 32%. Addition of Fire Station #4 in 2024 increases the fire operating budget as a percentage of total City operating budget to 34%. In 2020 with Fire Station #3, annual fire operating budget is 29% of total operating budget.
• Estimated cost for land acquisition, design, construction, and vehicles is $4.6 million. Annual operating costs are estimated at $1.5 million.
• Recommendation: construct a fourth City of Green Fire Station in the area of Arlington Rd and Koons Road equipped with an engine/medic company staffed with a Lieutenant and 2 Fire/medics, 24 hours a day.