Ross approves plan to close town fire station

Mar. 16—Ross will no longer have a fire station under a $14.6 million plan to renovate the town's government buildings.

The Town Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve the plan, which calls for demolishing the aging town headquarters on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and rebuilding the administrative offices, police station and ambulance center.

The council decided not to rebuild the fire station, which is part of the existing complex, after the town surveyed residents on whether they would be willing to pay for the construction.

"I want to keep the fire station, but the survey shows that we don't have the money," said Councilman Beach Kuhl.

The town's 93-year-old government buildings are in such poor shape that it would cost less to rebuild than remodel them, according to Town Manager Joe Chinn. The town plans to seek a bond measure to pay for the new center.

Early estimates for the project indicated 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, firefighters responding to the town's service calls would come from the San Anselmo station, which is 1.1 miles from Ross Town Hall, or from the Kentfield station, which is 0.7 miles away, according to Ross Valley fire Chief Jason Weber. 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 eight minutes to just under 10 minutes, according to the study.

The town's survey, conducted in December, asked whether residents would be willing to pay the additional $13.8 million 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.

A bond measure would need approval from two thirds of the voters to pass.

"It doesn't seem like there's a lot of community support to keep it," said Mayor Pro Tempore Elizabeth Robbins. "There certainly are many people who would like to keep it, but the majority seem that they don't want to."

Robbins said it was clear from the survey that residents want to keep paramedics in Ross. Under the approved plan, the town headquarters will continue to host paramedics.

"Keeping the paramedics in town is key, because I think that's the response time that most of us really are looking for," Robbins said.

Ed Gong, who has lived in Ross for 25 years, said he thinks the town could rebuild the fire station at a lower cost than what the town is estimating.

Gong told the council that a group of residents met with an architect who estimated it would cost about $16 million to rebuild the entire complex, including the fire station.

"We believe that the town deserves to keep its fire hall," he said. "And I think if we make a decision based on what I believe are inaccurate concept budgets, it could be detrimental to the town residents in terms of losing facilities and services."

Chinn said the town is confident in its cost estimate. He said construction of government buildings is much more expensive than construction in the private sector.

Stephanie Lamarre, who lives in Ross, said she's concerned that closing the fire station could make it harder for residents to keep fire insurance policies.

"It's a reality that we are all in danger of losing our insurance in the wake of all of the wildfires in our county and just north of us," Lamarre told the council.

Weber has said it's unlikely that closing the fire station would have any effect on insurance coverage.

Weber said that while it will take longer for firefighters to respond to calls in Ross, the town's average response time is already lower than the nationwide average for suburban neighborhoods.

"This is about tradeoffs," Weber said. "There is some increased risk associated with closing the fire station. It's on average two minutes and that isn't terrible, but it's not great. That's the tough spot we're in."

The Ross Valley Fire Department has not decided on staffing changes related to the closure of the Ross station.

According to Chinn, the town plans to start designing the project in the spring. An environmental review will also take place during the design phase and a ballot measure will likely come after the review is certified, he said.

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