Ross might drop its fire station
Plans for a new town headquarters in Ross may not include a fire station after a survey of residents indicated an unwillingness to pay for one, officials said.
Town officials are planning a renovation of the 93-year-old civic center on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. The center includes a fire and police station, an ambulance bay and offices for town administrators.
According to Town Manager Joe Chinn, the buildings are in such poor shape that in order to bring them up to standard it
would cost less to rebuild than remodel.
“Public safety personnel generally consider Ross police and fire stations to be in the worst physical and functional condition of any station in Marin County,” Chinn told the Town Council this month.
Early estimates for the project — which officials said they would need to seek a bond measure to pay for — indicate it would cost about $28.4 million to reconstruct all of the buildings in the complex. But the cost would be cut nearly in half if the town doesn’t include a fire station at the new center.
Ross shares firefighting services with Fairfax, San Anselmo and Sleepy Hollow through the Ross Valley Fire Department, which has a station in each of those areas. Without a fire station in Ross, it would take firefighters an average of two extra minutes to reach a residence in the town, a recent department study found. That would bring the average response time for service calls up from just under 8 minutes to just under 10 minutes, according to the study.
Ross officials sent out a survey last month on the plans for a new town headquarters. The survey
asked whether residents would be willing to pay the additional expense to keep a fire station in town.
The poll garnered responses from 336 people and 98% of them said they lived in Ross. Only 33% said they would be willing to pay for the fire station. On the other hand, 63% said they would pay to keep a police station, administrative building and ambulance bay in town.
Based on the survey, it seems unlikely that the town could get voter support for a bond measure to pay for the project if it includes a fire station, said Councilwoman Elizabeth Robbins.
“It’s looking to me like the consensus in town, from the questionnaire, is it’s not high on people’s list to keep fire engines parked in the town,” Robbins said.
Mayor Julie McMillan said a group of residents has told her they are passionate about keeping a fire station in town and might be able to raise the money to pay for a new one through private donations. She said the group would likely need about two months in order to gauge whether that would be possible.
Councilman Beach Kuhl said the town shouldn’t wait too long before moving into the design phase of the project, because costs will likely go up over time. He said he’s willing to give the group two months to weigh in on the possibility of fundraising for the fire station, but he thinks it would be a long shot to come up with the needed $14 million.
“I think we probably need to be aiming at no fire station,” Kuhl said,
“unless what I would term a miracle comes to pass with somebody financing the difference.”
Councilwoman Elizabeth Brekhus said she wasn’t ready to rule out the fire station yet. She said the town should wait and see whether it could be privately funded.
“I love the idea of having the fire department remain in town,” Brekhus said. “I think it’s a benefit. I’ve had my homeowners insurance canceled. I’m concerned about that. I think everybody needs to be concerned about that.”
Ross Valley fire Chief Jason Weber told the council that insurance policy cancellations have become increasingly common throughout California over the past five years. But “not having a fire truck in town, I think, would not really change that or affect that,” he said.
“It’s really the work you do around your house, home hardening, defensible space,” Weber said.
Bob Herbst, who lives in town, told the council he wants a fire station in Ross.
Herbst said he felt the cost estimates were too high for the town headquarters project and that the town could save money by going with local contractors, rather than firms specializing in public safety buildings.
“We can do it a lot cheaper and have a full fire station,” Herbst said.
Chinn said the town got multiple cost estimates and all of them were similar.
Chinn asked the council to make a decision by the end of March on whether it will include a fire station in the new complex. He said the next steps would include hiring a consultant to design the project and a launching environmental analysis.