Paid for by Lisa Mellone and Steve Mellone, Treasurer

 

Brief summary of Fire Station Proposal

 

“The Uniform Fire and EMS Service Delivery Task Force was created in Sept. 2005 to study the feasibility and impact of relocating Fire Stations Two and Three for the purpose of balancing fire and EMS service delivery levels throughout the City of Brookfield”, per the Executive Summary of the Task Force Report. 

 

The final recommendation by the Task Force was to build new and relocate further west both Fire Stations Two and Three.  Fire Station #3 is located in District 7 on Moorland Rd just south of I-94.  The Task Force recommends moving the station to the corner of Greenfield and Calhoun Rd.

 

My concerns and questions regarding the recommendation were as follows:

 

· Are we truly balancing response times when the proposed new location is not in the geographic center of its area of response? Are we leaving the more densely populated southeastern portion of Brookfield without adequate service?

· The southeastern portion of  Brookfield has many closed roads (just North of Greenfield) that limits safety vehicle access, thus slowing response times.  The southwest side of Brookfield does not have as many encumbrances.

· Was redevelopment of the Quebecor property (including the possibility of 160+ additional condo’s) taken into consideration when considering the weighted values of response time data?

· Was the recently approved Brookhollow Condominiums (80 units east of Moorland Rd.) taken into consideration when considering the weighted values of response time data?

· The statistical data presented in the Task Force Report does not strongly support the relocation of Station #3, and per the meeting minutes the task force seemed to struggle with the recommendation to move station #3.

· Is it wise to move station #3 further away from the city’s “Hot Zone” of activity?  City of Brookfield Fire Chief John Dahms confirmed that 70% of all calls are to the I-94, Brookfield Square, Bluemound and Moorland area.   

· Do we not have a regional responsibility to provide timely response to potentially more life threatening accidents on I-94?

· Is it wise to move Station #3 further from the Mall in light of the new era of terrorism threats that are now apart of our everyday existence.  I don’t believe Brookfield is immune from this national threat.  (Although not an act of terrorism, we all remember the Sheraton shootings of 2004)

· The Task Force Report does not seem to include the following:

             - What percentage of response calls are for accidents, EMS only services, Fires, etc

             - Data that depicts trends over a period of time.  For instance, are the calls truly moving more              to the west or are they staying in the “hot zone”?

· Why are we moving our Fire Station to a location that better serves the City of New Berlin and the Town of Brookfield?

· Is it responsible to move Station #3 closer to the Town of Brookfield’s station if regional cooperation and shared services were to occur?  Or is the city closing the door once and for all to the possibility of cooperation with the Town?  Are we prepared to make that kind of a statement?

· It would cost an additional $1 million minimum to build new and relocate vs. build new at the current site.

· If moved, what happens to the land where Station #3 is currently located?  How would that be redeveloped? And how would it affect the neighborhood?