Officials: New fire station could improve response times

LIBERTY TWP. TOTAL FIRE AND EMS RUNS

Year: District 1/ District 2/ District 3/ District 4/ TOTAL

2009: 473/ 860/ 630/ 150/ 2,113

2010: 484/ 690/ 576/ 218/ 1,968

2011: 524/ 725/ 742/ 192/ 2,183

2012: 485/ 767/ 743/ 203/ 2,198

2013: 491/ 821/ 672/ 242/ 2,226

Source: Liberty Twp.

WHAT’S NEXT

Now that trustees have heard feedback and offered answers via Wednesday’s work session, here are the next possible steps in the process.

Constructing a fire station for this community’s northeast quadrant would not only serve residents there but help free up the township’s three other stations for quicker response in their own coverage area, according to officials.

That’s why the township continues to work its way toward that goal six years after a facilities assessment by discussing the potential for a new station in the northeast quadrant, an area presently covered by stations miles away in the northwest and southeast quadrants.

The proposed new site would mirror Fire Station 111, a 12,500-square-foot facility that opened in 2010 at 5170 Princeton-Glendale Road, and could be built on three acres at 5555, 5563 and 5573 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, just south of Kyles Station Road.

Although a location on Kyles Station just west of Cincinnati-Dayton topped the list as a viable site for a future station back in 2010, the economic downturn and residential concerns soon canceled plans for that site.

In the years since the 2008 assessment, the need for a new station has grown. The northeast quadrant accounted for just 150 of 2,113 runs in 2009, or just over 7 percent of township runs, according to statistics obtained by the Journal-News. In contrast, the quadrant generated for 242 of the 2,226 runs the fire department handled in 2013, or nearly 11 percent of township runs.

Since 2009, the amount of fire runs has increased from 58 to 85 a year, a 46.6 percent increase, and EMS runs from 92 to 157, a 70.7 percent increase. In contrast, the other four quadrants saw less dramatic ebbs and flows in both categories.

“The fourth quadrant is definitely less than some (other quadrants), but it is growing though,” said Kristen Bitonte, the township’s administrator. “The numbers were … ebbing and flowing but definitely increasing.”

The township recently was presented with an offer to purchased three 1-acre parcels of land along Cincinnati-Dayton Road just south of Kyles Station Road, trustees said.

But residents whose homes are near the fire station turned out to a Wednesday work session to voice concerns about the light and noise a fire station might create, and what it effect it might have on their property values.

“It’s right outside my bedroom window and in my backyard,” said Kelly Granger of Cedar Gate Court. “I would certainly think that we would look at some sort of a noise barrier.”

Jonathan West, the township’s director of planning and zoning, said there are number of different options the township can use to greatly minimize, if not eliminate entirely, the impact from lighting around the station, as well as noise produced by vehicles, machinery or the station itself.

Fire Chief Paul Stumpf also sought to address concerns about noise.

“Although our guys are required by law when we use our lights that we have to use our sirens, our guys are very good about tempering that,” Stumpf said. “The sirens are directional, so when they pull out of the front of the station, it’ll be directed out onto the road.”

Stumpf said the fire department typically avoids using sirens at night.

“We don’t use them unless we need to,” he said.

He said the warning beeps that accompany large vehicle wouldn’t be an ongoing issue at the station.

“Our goal is not to ever back up just simply because that’s a safety concern,” Stumpf said. “Whenever we do back up, there was to be an assistant outside directing him backwards.”

That said, Stumpf estimated that a fire station generates less noise than an existing body shop at the site, especially with truck making deliveries and air hammers and other tools being used.

The location, he said, was optimal because of sight distance down Cincinnati-Dayton Road and the depth the properties offer, which would make it possible to accommodate 50-foot buffers to the west and south of the site to reduce the effect of noise and light.

Trustees said they held the work session because they wanted to be sure they received input from residents abutting the property before any decision can be made about purchase. However, the sooner any property is purchased, the more the township will save than if it waits two to five years, according to Trustee President Christine Matacic.

“I give that two to five-year period because we’re not sure how things are going to develop in the next year,” Matacic said. “As they develop, if we see that we need to initiate a fire station in that area sooner than later, then obviously it would happen sooner than later, but it’s nothing that has been set in stone at this point in time as to when.”

Matacic said next Tuesday’s regularly scheduled trustees meeting would be the very earliest a vote to approve or deny the purchase and sale agreements would be considered.

“At that meeting, if the feedback is such that we feel that we should go ahead and purchase this property, then we would start the purchase of that that evening, as well as the rezoning of the property,” she said. That process would take about three or four months.

During that time, trustees would continue to consult with residents into the various options that would negate the impact of a potential new station.

“The process of building this building, you would have plenty of opportunities to help us design the buffers, what we put in there,” said Trustee Vice President Tom Farrell said. “We would do this together. It’s just the way things are done in Liberty. It’s not like today we make a decision (to) buy the land and build it and we’re never going to talk to you again.”

Actual construction of a station would be influenced by a variety of factors, including financing, and might mean the station could be built as early as 2015 but, more realistically, in a two to five-year time frame or even beyond, trustees said.

Mike Robinette of Pine Cone Court, one of about a dozen residents who attended the work session, said trustees listened to everything residents had to say and took seriously the questions they raised.

“Personally, I’m encouraged,” Robinette said. “They seem to be very willing to work with us as they go through the process of moving forward or not moving forward with the project. I don’t think that anyone has any severe concerns at this point, but we’ll just keep working with them through the process.”