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:
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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