During a Dec. 2 joint work session of the Fairfax City Council and Planning Commission, Fire Chief Dave Rohr presented his department’s proposed FY 2016 CIP (Capital Improvement Program). He said the funds are needed for three projects:
- Fire Station 33 feasibility study, including the initial design and land evaluation.
“It’s a continuation of a project already in place,” said Rohr. “A feasibility study is already underway and we’re having a study done to determine the future needs of the fire station, or if it should be rebuilt.”
The fire station is at 4081 University Drive in Old Town Fairfax. Rohr said the study should be awarded in January, with the results back to the department by spring or summer. He requested $250,000 for this project for FY ’16, saying it’s important to “continue the momentum.”
- City of Fairfax Public Safety Training Center.
“The current center is on Colonial Avenue, and the fire and police departments and the Department of Public Works use it for meetings,” said Rohr. “We could also have offices there or move the fire station there temporarily if we needed an emergency operations center.”
But the facility currently has no security or fire-detection systems, so he’s requesting $45,000 to have them installed.
- Traffic preemption improvements and maintenance
“I’m excited about this,” said Rohr. “It’s a joint request between the police, fire, public works and transportation departments.” An ongoing initiative, the goal is for improved response times to emergencies and involves the conversion to a GPS-based system. The FY ’16 price tag is $100,000.
“It’s a joint request between the police, fire, public works and transportation departments.”
— Fire Chief Dave Rohr
“It will increase the safety of the citizens,” said Rohr. “It provides a green light for responders during emergencies and improves patient outcome. The current system is infrared or line-of-sight, but could give false positives. So we’d like to switch to an all-GPS technology system, instead. It works better and is also more easily repaired.”
He said Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax counties are all moving toward GPS technology. “If this project’s not funded, we’d continue throwing good money into old technology,” said Rohr.
Furthermore, he added, “This request is part of a five-year program to upgrade the [City’s] intersections, starting with Fairfax Boulevard, and all apparatus assigned to Fire Station 33 and its fire vehicles that don’t have it. It’ll include the Main Street corridor, Kamp Washington and other important intersections. Altogether, the Fire Department is asking for five years and half a million dollars.”