Fire Station #8 Relocation

– Siting Process

Community Meeting

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

July 9, 2015 from 7-9pm

Agenda

Introductions (Bonnie Holloway- 5 minutes)

Opening Remarks (Mary Hynes, Arlington County

Board – 10 minutes)

Relocating Fire Station #8 (Chief Schwartz, ACFD- 20

minutes)

Project Budget & Siting (June Locker, DES – 10

minutes)

Breakout Session – (Group Table exercise -30

minutes)

Summary of Observations and Q&A (30 minutes)

Next steps (June Locker, DES – 10 minutes)

Wrap Up (Bonnie Holloway – 5 mins)

2

Community Process

• Tonight– Overview presentation

– Respond to key questions heard to date

– Exercise to ID possible additional locations for

a Fire Station in North county

– Devote more time to the exercise than we had

available on June 25

3

Community Process

• Meeting #2- July 30th @ St. Mary’s– Review previous meeting results and answers

to additional questions

– Identify the range of additional sites and

opportunities that were identified, and results

of initial screening

– Outline process for fuller review of the sites,

and developing recommendation for the

Board

4

Community Process

• Meeting #3 - September 9th @

Yorktown H.S.– Review process and key issues to date

– Present results of review of additional sites

– Present recommendations to be submitted to

the Board

5

Arlington County Fire Station System

6

8

2

6 4

10

1

7

95

3

Goal is Overall System Effectiveness

Goal of 4 minutes

National Standard – NFPA 1710 (National Fire

Protection Association)

4 minutes for Fire and Basic Life Support EMS (90%

of incidents)

8 minutes for Advanced Life Support (Paramedic)

Measured from time of dispatch to time of arrival

7

Ongoing Evaluation and Improvement

Three Studies Since 1999 Looked at the Whole System

1. Original study undertaken in 1999 by Gordon Routley

to determine optimum location of fire stations

2. 1999 study was reviewed by Tri-Data as part of a

larger Fire Department Management study in 2000

3. Updated Tri-Data study conducted in 2012 due to

changes in population, service demand and planning

and development

8

Ongoing Evaluation and Improvement

Improvements implemented since 1999

Replaced FS #3, #5, and #6

Improved 911 call center response time

Invested in technology

9

Why Move Fire Station 8?

• Routley Report 1999

– North Arlington has greatest need for improved coverage

– Move either Station #3 or Station #8 northward

• TriData 2000

– Supported Routley recommendations

– Suggested relocating FS3 to North Glebe/Williamsburg

– Noted location challenge with dispatch to Fairfax county

• TriData 2012

– Relocate station 8 to improve coverage in the north County

– Keep station 8 as close as possible to Station 2 while improving

coverage to the north

– Keep station 8 in as central a location as possible

10

Why Move Fire Station 8?

Replacement identified in 2015-2024 CIP

Part of the overall effort to continuously improve the system

reach many more North Arlington properties within the

preferred response time of four minutes

Bring station up to current standards and space requirements

Part of ongoing improvements, not meant to solve the total north

county gap

11

12

Fire Stations – Current 4 & 6 minute travel times

Fire Station #8 (current location)

13

4845 Lee Hwy

Arlington, VA 22207

Current Conditions of FS#8

14

Built in 1963

Only 2 Bays

Cannot handle required equipment

Insufficient space for current requirements

such as hazmat response, ….

Limited lockers and change facilities

Inadequate cooking facilities

Insufficient parking

Site Selection Criteria

Criteria for relocating FS#8 is based on an independent analysis by TriData

and guidance from Arlington County Board:

An increase in the number of households reached in 4-6 minutes

1.5 acre site already owned by the County (or likely to come into the

County's control expeditiously and at a feasible cost)

Proximity to major arterial street(s)

An appropriate distance from the Fairfax County line. The County

seeks to assure, to the greatest extent possible, that the majority of

service from any new location is to Arlington residents and the volume

of work is distributed reasonably as to not effect volume of work within

the existing Arlington County Fire Department Fire Station System.

15

Fire Station #8 Program Requirements

16

4 Bay stations

Drive-through arrangement

New program standards

Decontamination & storage

Workforce gender mix

24 hour shift

Model - Fire Station #5

Total Site = 1.5 acres

Building footprint & apron – 0.8

Acres

Site – 0.7 Acres

Wrap around drive aisle

Surface parking for 12 spots

30 ft setback/buffer

Fire Station # 5

17

1750 S Hayes St

Arlington, VA 22202

There are many considerations

2012 Tri Data Study noted

• There is no one “right answer” for problems such as locating fire

stations – there is a need to trade off benefits and costs, and locating

fire stations becomes an exercise in making the best out of

constrained resources and parochial/political interests.

18

2015-2024 CIP

2015-2024 CIP = $25.1M for the relocation of

FS#8 & Office of Emergency Management

$13M allocated to FS#8 (does not include land

acquisition)

$12.1 allocated to OEM

County Board has decoupled the two projects

and will be evaluating the relocation of FS#8 first.

19

Potential Locations from Tri Data

The 2012 TriData

study identified

three potential

sites meeting

travel time

criteria

20

Why 26th and Old Dominion?

It’s the only site of sufficient size and location

that is currently owned by the County

We are open to other alternatives, if they can be

identified

21

What is the role of the community?

Help us to identify other possible locations

Identify additional criteria or community concerns

that we need to take into account and bring to

the attention of the Board

Once the Board has selected a site, provide

input to the site planning process

22

Breakout Session - Questions

23

Are there any additional sites that the County should consider relocating FS#8 to

which also meet the siting criteria:

An increase in the number of households reached in 4-6 minutes

1.5 acre site already owned by the County (or likely to come into the County's

control expeditiously and at a feasible cost)

Proximity to major arterial street(s)

An appropriate distance from the Fairfax County line. The County seeks to

assure, to the greatest extent possible, that the majority of service from any new

location is to Arlington residents and the volume of work is distributed reasonably

as to not effect volume of work within the existing Arlington County Fire

Department Fire Station System.

Are there other considerations /criteria the County should take into consideration

when evaluating the relocation of FS#8?

Group – Siting Exercise

24

Questions & Answers

25

Observations from Table Discussion

What are we going to do with what we hear?

Staff will conduct preliminary review of

suggested sites & criteria.

Share Results and request more feedback at

Meeting #2, July 30th

Please provide any additional

feedback/suggestions by July 15th

Suggestion Box @ the sign in table or email

to jlocker@arlingtonva.us

26

Proposed Community Engagement Process

Process Kickoff

June 2015

Community

Engagement sessions

June –September 2015

Summary of Findings with the

Community Session

Early September 2015

Recommendation to the Board

Fall 2015

Site Specific Master Planning Process, Public Facilities Review

Committee (PFRC)

Design & Construction

Process

27

FS#8 Planning & Design Process

Apply applicable County plans & Policies to

site

Review by Public Facilities Review

Committee (PFRC) Significant Community involvement

Review of development impacts to include: transportation,

neighborhood, and environmental impacts

28

Wrap up

Upcoming meetings:

Meeting #2 on July 30th

Meeting #3 on September 9th

For latest project updates &

Information:

http://projects.arlingtonva.us/projec

ts/fire-station-8/

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