The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Officials ponder safety center
The city of Avon Lake is considering upgrades to its Safety Center to better meet the needs of the growing community.
On Sept. 16, the Avon Lake City Council Safety Committee unanimously recommended the approval of a $38,000 contract with Columbus architectural firm Mull & Weithman for a feasibility study to examine options.
The Safety Center, 32855 Walker Road, houses the police and fire departments in addition to Avon Lake Municipal Court.
Avon Lake fire Chief Jeremy Betsa addressed the committee.
Since the present fire station construction in 1978, the department has expanded and needs more space to meet the needs of residents, Betsa said.
“We’ve grown considerably since then,” he said. “It’s not only at manpower and equipment and resources that we need to have, so we were certainly tight running out of room.
“We’ve been looking to do something to give us the appropriate space and the programming that we put there.”
Betsa said following several conversations with Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka and Public Works Director Joe Reitz, the city is in agreement about moving forward to examine the Safety Center in planning for the future.
Zilka said the current needs for an expanded Safety Center are bringing the city’s recently updated land-use plan into play and officials are looking at possibly developing the land east of the fire station on Walker Road.
“There obviously is a great need for the Safety Center to be expanded,” he said. “We were a growing community; 1978 was a long time ago, and as we study this, we often regret where the fire station was put.
“We only wish it was put further to the north which would give us some flexibility and room in the back to do some maneuvering.”
The city owns the land and is evaluating possibilities in the area to acquire land that could be utilized for expansion.
Expanding east would give the Fire Department additional flexibility to move equipment in and out, and the feasibility study will help guide the city on the best options available, Zilka said.
“We’re very excited about this,” he said. “We think this is going to be a very positive move on the part of the city.”
Betsa said an expansion for the Fire Department would enable it to provide the necessary space as it continues to grow.
Currently, the station only has enough space for firefighter-paramedics, he said.
There is a lack of space for dorms and lockers for everyone, Betsa said, adding that the department has to keep several vehicles outside which has taken a toll.
“That’s a problem,” he said. “We always are constantly gaining more resources, more things that we are required to do.
“We have our dive team. We have our special rescue team. We have rope rescue. We have all these specialty items that we do all the time ... and it takes up a lot of space.”
In addition, the Fire Department does not have a lot of conference room or office space and often needs to use the Police Department’s training rooms.