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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDirection Site Selection for a New Municipal Fire Station CITY OF PALM DESIRT CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE STAFF REPORT REQUEST: PROVIDE DIRECTION TO STAFF CONCERNING TWO PROPOSALS RELATIVE TO SITE SELECTION FOR A NEW MUNICIPAL FIRE STATION SUBMITTED BY: Carlos L. Ortega, City Manager DATE: March 17, 2006 CONTENT: 1. Existing Fire Stations Radius Map 2. Proposal A Fire Stations Radius Map 3. Proposal B Fire Stations Radius Map RECOMMENDATION By Minute Motion: 1. SELECT a site for a new municipal fire station from one of the two proposals presented, allowing for the continuation of a nexus study for a Fire Facilities Fee on new development. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During FY 2005-2006 budget discussions, the City Council directed staff to explore the option to construct a new City Fire Station that would replace Fire Station No. 71 (73995 Country Club Drive). The City of Palm Desert is currently served by three Fire Stations. The two other stations are Station No. 33 (44400 Town Center Way) and Station No. 67 (73200 Mesa View Drive). County Fire officials and staff initiated discussions on a suitable site for the proposed station, as there are various Redevelopment Agency properties in this area. Staff's initial recommendation was for a station at the corner of Julie Lane and Portola Avenue. However, the Fire Department indicated that this location was not preferred, as they would obtain better response coverage if the station were located on the Agency's 170- acre site (Portola Avenue/Frank Sinatra Drive). Staff presented this plan to the City Council on October 13, 2005, and was directed to return with additional proposals at enhancing the one and a half mile station response radius within the City. After much discussion with senior Fire Department Staff, a new proposal was introduced that would retain the existing three City fire stations and construct a new station at the CSUSB Palm Desert Site. It is important to note that the Finance Department has retained the services of a consultant to perform a nexus study to fund the new station via a Fire Facilities Fee on new development. However, the consultant cannot continue this study until the City Council provides formal direction on their preferred site location for a new fire station. The Council is respectfully requested to provide direction to staff on the two site proposals presented. New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 2 of 8 DISCUSSION The Riverside County Fire Department operates under a Regional Fire Protection Program, which allows its fire stations to actively support one another regardless of geographic or jurisdictional boundaries. When an emergency call is received, the station that is physically closest to the emergency will respond, even if the emergency is located outside the station's official "jurisdiction." This system provides the community with the most effective and efficient method of emergency response, and allows for the shared use of specialized equipment and personnel between neighboring communities. Existing Fire Stations The Riverside County Fire Department maintains three fire stations within the incorporated boundaries of the City of Palm Desert. Four stations also exist within its sphere-of-influence and expanded General Plan planning area. The following are descriptions of the staff and equipment available at each Palm Desert station: City of 7 1111t 1, / Palm Desert (In i PPS 7-- EXISTING FIRE srA�rro4Hi . as a p l STATIONS /.. --.�K c �� �► _.._ s erion - . .f/t.`�. _ 1,.. \Ills\`,i! , �'. Ry; ""iitP 3iAilON T "A �'iTM�_ 7/. '''''VA •4, ,,.,41,.. 1.5 MILE ` 3 ,` J RADIUS OF .,.,t EXISTING { FIRE STATIONS _ j 1111l, ;.0 O.a , 15 `\ / M x. \ - F' SteYom OMona_ \ March 3.20a6 Palm Desert Station No. 33 Station No. 33 is located on Town Center Way, just south of Fred Waring Drive in Palm Desert. Station No. 33 is staffed by a total of 24 crewmembers, including the Battalion Chief Officer. Equipment includes one engine staffed by 3 people per day; one ambulance, staffed by 2 people per day; one company truck staffed by 4 people per day; and one reserve truck, which serves as a back-up vehicle when other equipment is unavailable. Palm Desert Station No. 71 Station No. 71 is located at the southwest corner of Portola Avenue and Country Club Drive. This station serves as the administrative hub for the Palm Desert Volunteer Fire Company, which currently includes 12 volunteers, but may include a maximum of 25. The station is staffed by a total of 12 crewmembers, five of which are on duty each day. G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan\Word Data\Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 3 of 8 Palm Desert Station No. 71 (continued) Equipment includes one engine, which is staffed by 3 people per day; one ambulance staffed by 2 people per day; one reserve engine that functions as a back-up unit; and one Breathing Support Unit that is staffed by volunteers. Palm Desert Station No. 67 Station No. 67 is located at 73-200 Mesa View Drive in Palm Desert and is staffed by 12 crewmembers, five of whom are on duty each day. Equipment includes one engine staffed by 3 people per day and one ambulance that is staffed by 2 people per day. FIRE STATION NO. 71 RELOCATION During FY 2005-2006 budget discussions, the City Council directed staff to explore the option to construct a new City Fire Station to replace Fire Station No. 71, in meeting the needs of the expanding California State University region of the City. County Fire officials and staff initiated discussions on a suitable site for the proposed station, as there are various Redevelopment Agency properties in this area. Staff's initial recommendation was for a station at the corner of Julie Lane and Portola Avenue. However, the Fire Department indicated that this location was not preferred, as they would obtain better response coverage if the station were located on the Agency's 170- acre site (Portola Avenue/Frank Sinatra Drive). VIrt -1 t City of THE-RAL'• " Palm Desert STY. "I , f .. l 11 1 : illitifilftt:c ;' ''' ' a srAno i�" nk:; PROPOSAL ,„ ,: , . .- ), \ -:..1 , 44— r v: 1,--''.� saro wNO POED R _slit; FIRE STATION 71 AQON 4� �? �1 its;fi , @ ;'tt tr,,cZE;ii pm fn, Aishir, r J.- '' a A 1.5 MILE I x .P RAGIUS OF STING srarro" }'.Y 's EX1571NG Y.7,1 31AilON t` �v ,,�, � 7 � L`/ FIRE STATIONS s .s t Al...., +tea F 9 119 in r47.^pwna_ Considerations: 1. Retain Station No. 33 and Station No. 67 at their current locations. 2. Relocate Station No. 71 to a location on the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency's 170-acre parcel, located at the northeast corner of Frank Sinatra Drive/Portola Avenue. G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan\Word Data\Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 4 of 8 PROPOSED NEW STATION The City Council directed Staff to return with an alternate proposal in enhancing response time and fire emergency coverage within the City. After much discussion with senior Fire Department Staff, a new proposal was drafted that called for the retention of the three existing stations and construction of a new station at the Cal State University Site. In selecting the proposed site, the Fire Department's goal was to get the best first- due response times and to fill gaps when other units are committed on emergency calls. As Station No. 71 maintains the highest response volume, building an additional station would reduce current call volume and address future development in this region. u CIty of NIC Palm Desert 't�P 1 i . �� ~` - PROPOSAL sranox _ v taiskr B es ■ 4' •� WITH PROPOSED s --... / ia sranox. NEW s f FIRE STATION �/ , k if t4 I LOCATED ON '---''' - `:. \ sranoH i, ���111 �� � ' FRANK SINATRA w� BETWEEN 1 , t COOK ST AND - GERALD FORD DR nl F c . • '��� i 1.SMILE "c _ RADIUS OF ',nrraN I EXISTING I ? 1 FIRE STATIONS . .\. — ,+. _. o OS 1 1.5 2 nrs Fti Sptbm_OpYms_ 9_ ICC li \ r j 1 SMN Mart 2006�B.]008 Considerations: 1. Retain all three City fire stations at their existing stations. 2. Construct a new City fire station adjacent to the California State University property on Frank Sinatra Drive, east of Berger Road, inbetween Cook Street and Gerald Ford Avenue. This station would require an initial investment of up to 8 new firefighters (consisting of one captain, two engineers, and five regular firefighters) and 6 paramedics. 3. The impact to the Fire budget resulting from the additional personnel, station maintenance, and support services is estimated at $2.3 million. 4. The design of this new facility would consider the City's future growth for the next twenty-five years. With the anticipated population increase, fire/life safety needs, and projected call volumes, this station may eventually house department headquarters, an additional engine/ambulance company, and a truck company. G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan Word Data'Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 5 of 8 Station Design & Fiscal Considerations For either of the two scenarios presented, the Fire Department indicated that they would like the City to consider an 11,000 sq. ft facility, on approximately two acres, with the following general specifications: • Dual Bedroom Design & Exercise Room • Individual Unisex Bathrooms with Showers • Administrative Offices with a Lobby Area • Four Bays, Two Apparatus Deep & Separate Climate Controlled Storage Building • Exhaust Evacuation System • Commercially Equipped Kitchen • Oversize Hose Rack • Covered Employee Parking Please note that these specifications are preliminary and due to the unique characteristics of a fire station, there are many items to consider in depth during the planning phase. A fair construction estimate for this station would be from $6-$8 million based upon a construction initiation within two years. If a fourth fire station is built, the impact to the Fire Budget resulting from the additional personnel, station maintenance, and support services is estimated at $2.3 million. Response-Time Considerations Methodology The primary function of all fire departments is the timely delivery of quality emergency services. The critical performance measures of service delivery are commonly known as response time. Response time is defined as the total amount of time between the receipt of the initial call in the dispatch center (phone ring) and the arrival of fire apparatus (wheel stop) at the incident scene. Response time consists of several time elements that are listed and defined below. Dispatch Time (One Minute): The amount of time that it takes to receive and process an emergency call. This includes receiving the call, determining the nature of the emergency, the location of the emergency, determining what resources are required to handle the call and notifying the units that are to respond. Turn Out Time (One Minute): The amount of time that it takes a fire crew to react after receiving dispatch information and prepare to leave the station. Travel Time (Three Minutes): The amount of time that it takes for a piece of fire apparatus to travel from the fire station to the incident scene (wheel start to wheel stop). The maps provided in this report indicate a fire department response radius for each station of 1.5 miles, to assist in maintaining an average five-minute response window. In evaluating a community's public fire protection, Insurance Services Offices (ISO) considers the distribution of fire companies. Generally, ISO's criteria say that a built- upon area of a community should have a first-due engine company within 1.5 road miles of protected properties. Those benchmark criteria produce an expected response time of 3.2 minutes for an engine company based on a formula developed by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization. G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan\Word Data\Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 6 of 8 RAND conducted extensive studies of fire department response times. They concluded that the average speed for a fire apparatus responding with emergency lights and siren is 35 mph. That speed considers average terrain, average traffic, weather, and slowing down for intersections. Taking into account the average speed and the time required for an apparatus to accelerate from a stop to the travel speed, RAND developed the following equation for calculating the travel time: T= 0.65 + 1.7D Formula Description Component T Time in minutes to the nearest 1/10 of a minute 0.65 A vehicle-acceleration constant for the first 0.5 miles traveled 1.7 A vehicle-speed constant validated for response distance ranging from 0.5 miles to 8.0 miles (35 MPH divided into 60 seconds) D Distance ISO, working with several fire departments, recently conducted its own review of the formula and found the earlier RAND work still valid as a predictive tool. ISO also asserts that it would be inappropriate to push fire apparatus beyond a safe driving speed for the sake of faster response times, as U.S. Fire Administration statistics indicate that 20 to 25 percent of firefighter on-duty fatalities result from traffic accidents. The City's General Plan lists as a planning objective that emergency vehicles maintain a five-minute response time over 95 percent of all priority one emergencies. This goal is higher than the National Fire Protection Association standard of 90% within five minutes. The following 2005 data indicates the response time percentage that each Palm Desert Fire Station held in meeting the aforementioned standards, while responding to priority one calls. PALM DESERT FIRE STATION NO. 33 Month Average % Calls % Calls Response Less Than 5 Minutes Greater Than 5 Minutes Time January 4.6 82% 18% February 4.5 80% 20% March 4.4 78% 22% April 4.5 77% 23% May 4.6 76% 24% June 4.2 84% 16% July 3.6 92% 8% August 4.0 83% 17% September 4.0 84% 16% October 3.9 90% 10% November 4.0 80% 20% December 4.0 85% 15% G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan\Word Data\Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 7 of 8 PALM DESERT FIRE STATION NO. 67 Month Average % Calls % Calls Response Less Than 5 Minutes Greater Than 5 Minutes Time January 4.2 87% 13% February 4.9 63% 37% March 4.6 71% 29% April 4.2 79% 21% May 4.2 85% 15% June 4.7 77% 23% July 5.1 69% 31% August 5.0 72% 28% September 4.6 78% 22% October 5.3 62% 38% November 5.0 68% 32% December 4.8 65% 35% PALM DESERT FIRE STATION NO. 71 Month Average % Calls % Calls Response Less Than 5 Minutes Greater Than 5 Minutes Time January 5.8 66% 34% February 4.6 74% 26% March 4.7 68% 32% April 4.8 68% 32% May 5.0 62% 38% June 4.8 76% 24% July 5.3 61% 39% August 5.2 57% 43% September 4.7 70% 30% October 5.0 63% 37% November 5.1 63% 37% December 5.0 66% 34% Recommendation The City's Finance Department has retained the services of a consultant to perform a nexus study to fund the new station via a Fire Facilities Fee on new development. However, the consultant cannot continue this study until the City Council provides formal direction on their preferred site location for a new fire station. The Council is respectfully requested to provide direction to staff on the two site proposals presented. G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan\Word Data\Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc • New Fire Station Site Proposals March 17, 2006 Page 8 of 8 Approved By: n Reviewed By: W7-.4,°‘ Carlos L. Orte Phil Drell City Manager Director of Community Development Paul S. Gibson Director of Finance Gv , Divisio Chief Ignacio Otero Riverside County Fire Department Prepared By: ::ITY COUNCIL POTION: APPROVED / DENIED RECEIVED OTHER ETI► DATE Ammar S ph Y. Aryan AYES:W.46AI & `mmi,1wmfmr_,.c::_ Assistant to the C' anager NOES: ► •�_ r • ABSENT: I ABSTAIN:„j„ b� VERIFIED BY: trairiU /11 Original on File el h City Clerk's Offire * By Minute Motion, approved the staff report's Proposal B, which identifies the intersection of Frank Sinatra Drive/Gerald Ford Drive for a new municipal fire station, contingent upon: 1) Consent to this request by either Taylor Woodrow on the east side or California State University, San Bernardino - Palm Desert Campus, on the west; 2) recognition of the need for additional fire protection, especially ambulance coverage, in the City's eastern end, directing staff to return with such recommendation. 5-0 G:\CityMgr\Stephen Aryan\Word Data\Agenda Reports\Proposed New Fire Station 4.doc -- ' ` Palm D t ,� City o THErDRAL 5 a= r•r- — a mDesert 1 ' �i I STATION • = f— m 35 - ,f,tt itAy �yp� �{ iIIIIIIII. 1 1 { i �PiIN{I Ililll L n i� vmgii- -� 11�1111 I • � ■ �� Mie11111111f ,, STI R SIN �.. �: i ,...IMF .MOION.gm" FIRE l'irkli STATIONT rem tog q ♦r-= m Pr , Y�, 1::...it : I. 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