The Connection

The Fire Station 8 Task Force narrowed down its options during its meeting on April 26, and will now vote on May 12 to narrow the decision down to one proposal going forth to the County Board.

The task force eliminated the construction of a substation to handle calls in the northern part of the county, and affirmed that the new fire station would have four rather than three bays, looking out to future demand. The task force also continued to focus on putting the new station where the most demand and need were, and to take care not to come up with an option that would itself adversely affect the current response times of any group.

Noah Simon, head of the task force, said last week that the game changer for the task force was when the county took another look at the current site of Fire Station #8 and realized they could put a new station on that site.

He credited the task force process with uncovering this key piece: the task force asked the county to take a look, for what appears to be the first time, at the question: can a new station be built on this parcel of land with or without the acquisition of new land? “That is the beauty of task forces,” Simon said. “They give policymakers more, rather than fewer, options, and we learned that we could go from ‘ideal’ to ‘manageable.’ Manageable is where almost all site planning decisions land.”

On May 12, members of the task force will vote on a consensus recommendation and a back-up. Once the decision is reached, the County Board will be able to have it in the CIP within 50 days, which is very unusual, Simon said, and means the process will be that much faster.

Simon noted the budget figure the task force has worked with, $14.1 million, is just a budget place marker, not a “real” figure. That number is already old. That said, the task force has worked to lower the cost of the one variable in the package which seemed extravagant: the temporary station which needs to be available to firefighters during the construction of the new station. Task force members believe there are vacant space options along Lee Highway which are workable and would reduce cost.

Another task force member, Alisa Cowen, noted the option of keeping the fire station on Lee Highway reduces many hidden costs that would be part of a new location: no master planning for process and site, for instance.

Another key input at the April 26 meeting was Fire Chief Joseph Reshetar’s comment that he can do his mission if the station is kept on Lee Highway. He endorsed the more vertical design as long as the sleeping quarters for firefighters are right above the bays. He was also pleased that the drive-through capability can be accommodated in the site plan for Lee Highway.

Simon stressed that if the fire department had said their mission would be inhibited in any way by remaining on the Lee Highway site, it would have been a deal breaker. As it is, the task force can go forward with the endorsement of the firefighters who will use the new station.

The next meeting will be held at Marymount University, Rowley Hall Classroom Auditorium G-127, at 7 p.m. on May 12. Public comment is urged leading up to the meeting and residents are invited to attend. See also https://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/fire-station-8/