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11-25-1997 Edgewater Fire Station Siting Committee Regular Meeting Tuesday, November 25, 1997 Community Development Conference Room 1:07 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: The Edgewater Fire Station Siting Committee was called to Order on Tuesday, November 25, 1997 at 1:07 p.m. by Interim City Manager Kenneth Hooper. Mr. Hooper gave instructions to the Committee. Mr. Hooper stated Council wanted input as to siting for a fire station. He added that it was not limited to the two sites under consideration, Mango Tree and 35th and Hibiscus and 27th. If they could find another reasonable area the Council would also be interested. Mr. Hooper stated his belief was the Council was looking for some strong recommendations for the two proposed sites. Mr. Hooper stated Council wanted some input on a joint program between the Fire /Rescue Association and the City. The Committee should come up with ideas on how it could work and the negotiations between the Association and the City would have to occur after that. Mr. Hooper stated originally they had scheduled the 15th of December as the date to bring something back to Council as an interim report and the direction the Committee intended to take from that point. Mr. Hooper stated the Committee needed to select a chairman; this person would be the person who would make the presentation to Council. Mr. Hooper stated his personal opinion was the chairperson should be someone other than City Staff. Mr. Hooper added if they were more comfortable that it be a staff person, then that was their decision. Mr. Hooper stated they should also choose the next date of the meeting. Mr. Jones asked how the City acquired the land at the Lime Tree /Mango location. Mr. Hooper stated the City purchased a piece of land that expanded a piece the City already owned. He added there was a transfer but from a different site. The water system purchased the old Station #56 and the funds went from an enterprise fund, water and sewer, to the general fund. He added out of roughly $200,000, $30,000 has been spent to expand the piece of property. Mr. Jones stated it was his understanding that when the Horida Shores area was laid out some of that land was deeded over down there where the proposed fire station was going to be. Chief Vola stated originally the piece of property was a vacant lot, then it was dug out, filled in and used to store shell. It is now a retention pond. Chief Vola stated the City General Fund sold a fire station that was on Mango Tree to the Utilities Department because in the next 5 years they were basically going to take property anyway in the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant. He added they also needed a maintenance facility and since the fire station was a bad location tactically, it was decided to sell it to the Enterprise Fund Utilities and then take that money to locate and build another fire station. It was noted the City had the same amount of money left minus the $33,000 spent on the property at 35th and Mango Tree. There was discussion regarding what would have been the optimum location for a fire station for maximum coverage. Chief Vola stated 30th and Pine would have been that site, however that is all built up. There was discussion regarding future growth. Mr. Hooper stated the meetings would be recorded and posted and the members would be bound by the Sunshine Law. He added this meant the Committee members could not discuss items that could come before the Committee to be voted on. Mr. Hooper stated they could talk to Council and residents, but they could not talk amongst themselves. Mr. Hooper asked if there were any questions. Mr. Hooper stated he would put the subject on the Council agenda for the December 15th's meeting. He added if they had a recommendation for Council by that date it would be fine, but if not, then an interim report would be fine. Mr. Hooper noted the Committee had until Friday the 12th to turn something in. Mr. Hooper stated if they had any questions such as zoning questions then staff would help. He thanked the Committee and left at this time. There was discussion regarding the lot donated by the Magnusson Corporation in Horida Shores. There was discussion regarding the position of Chairman. It was noted roll call should be taken first for the record. ROLL CALL: Committee members present were: Chief William Vola, Lt. Bucky McEver (for Chief Schumaker), Ms. Carmel Shearer, Mr. Larry Carson, Mr. Joe Daly, Mr. Ron Prekup, and Mr. Dick Jones. Ms. Shearer moved to appoint Mr. Jones as Chairman. Mr. Carson seconded. Motion CARRIED 7 to 0. It was noted that any member of the Committee could help the Chairman as the need arises. Chairman Jones restated the purpose of the Committee and noted that December 15th was the target date they needed to have something for Council. It was noted there were two primary sites for consideration. There was discussion regarding alternate sites. The corner of Hibiscus and 30th was discussed. It was noted this site had the school zone and that could cause problems. It was noted the site needed to be at least an acre. This includes not only the actual fire station itself but a large apron around the building that would support the activities of the fire department such as testing fire hose, etc. It was noted the site should be situated to allow for drive through bays. 1 %iv r✓ There was discussion regarding having a police substation on the site. Lt. McEver stated he didn't believe there was a need for the substation at this time as his people were out there anyway. There was discussion regarding the size of the sites at Mango Tree and Hibiscus and areas of coverage. There was discussion regarding projected future growth of the City and current mutual aid coverage. There was discussion of the 4 minute average response time. There was discussion about a site in the area of Indian River Boulevard near the horse farm as a possible location. There was discussion regarding ambulance service in the future. It was noted this would not happen unless Volusia County approved it and they had denied other cities requesting this same license. There was discussion regarding mutual aid and paramedic level service. There was discussion regarding the building. It was noted the architect would design a "cookie cutter" building that would be a prototypical building that could be used again on any site in the future rather than pay for the plans again. The building would be a concrete block box that is modular in design that could be expanded out with two drive through bays. It would be about 5100 square feet that would also include: dormitory, living area, clinic, office space, and multi- purpose /day room. There was discussion regarding the Association and the amount of room they would need for their storage and building. There was discussion regarding the requirements of the Association. It was noted that the Association would need 2 1/2 to 3 of the lots for their storage building /community center. The Association owns 7 lots on Hibiscus. Ms. Shearer provided blueprints for the Committee to view as to what the Association had in mind for their warehouse /community center. The possibility of joint retention and parking was noted as well as the fact that extra lots were undeveloped that adjoined the property on Hibiscus. The Mango Tree site has over an acre of land and the idea of a passive park had been suggested for the extra land. There was discussion regarding the Fire Department and the Edgewater Volunteer Fire /Rescue Association. It was noted the Fire Department consists of career and volunteer members. The Association is a private corporation that is a support organization for the Fire Department and that it was made up of career, volunteer and retired members. Not all personnel are in both organizations, however, a large number of the career and volunteer members are also members of the Association. There was a discussion of simultaneous incidents. It was noted simultaneous incidents consist of incidents where more than one request for emergency service happens within a 30 minute period. There were an average of 20 simultaneous requests for emergency service monthly in 1996. There was discussion of overlapping districts. It was suggested the Hibiscus site having overlapping area with District #55 would help in handling simultaneous incidents. There was discussion regarding how the districts were figured. There was discussion regarding crossing US 1 and its hazards. It was noted the department had been trying to get DOT to put an emergency signal on US 1 to no avail. There was discussion regarding the Hibiscus site and it was noted the boring had already been done. There was discussion regarding whether or not the firefighters would be able to hear the pagers and radios at the Hibiscus site when a train went by. There was discussion regarding how the paging system and the 800 mHz radio system worked. There was discussion regarding the number of trains that went through the area. Chief Vola stated he would get with Dispatch and find out through I+EC how many trains come through the area and what times. It was noted the Committee should go out to the site during a time when a train went by and have the pagers set off to see if they could be heard. It was noted there could be a problem with the site being located next to an intersection and the railroad tracks. Chairman Jones stated he would like each member to take this information home with them and work up pros and cons for each site. There was discussion regarding the date of the next meeting. It was set for Wednesday December 3rd in the Community Development Conference Room. The Committee would go look at the sites. Chief Vola was to check to see what the train schedule was. There was discussion regarding purchasing additional property. It was noted there were certain types of negotiations that did not have to be done in the Sunshine. They are: labor negotiations, pending litigation, and land purchases. It was noted if it became common knowledge the City was considering purchasing a piece of property, the price of the property would go up. Ms. Shearer was assigned to check property costs. There was discussion regarding how the field trip would work to be within the Sunshine Law requirements. There being no more business to come before the Committee at this time, Chief Vola moved to adjourn. Motion was seconded by all. Meeting adjourned at 2:50 p.m. lm Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lisa R. Miller, Recording Secretary 2