Sunset Valley City Council nixes Uplands tract fire station

"Sunset Valley is sort of in a sweet spot for where a station would need to be," Harry Evans, AFD chief of staff, said.

The new fire station would be a single-engine station staffed with four firefighters at all times, Evans said, noting it could also include a two-person paramedic crew. Building the station would require about two acres of land and between $1 and $3.5 million, he said.

If the AFD built a station in the Uplands, response times in Sunset Valley could improve by as much as four minutes, Collins said.

Community against Uplands usage

Mayor Rose Cardona said that when using the Uplands tract was initially being discussed, 23 other options were identified as community priorities, and a fire station was not one of them. Residents also have expressed concern about the noise that sirens would bring to the city, she said.

"I didn't see any emails that were in support of looking at the Uplands as the location for a new fire department," Cardona said.

Mary Black was among the residents speaking up about the fire station. She said if the station was built at the end of Pillow Road, everyone in the city would hear the sirens. "I don't mind hearing the stadium because that's kids cheering," she said.

Mayor Pro Tem Rudi Rosengarten said while the city would love to have a fire station in order to have faster response times, most community members have said they want the Uplands tract to be the site of some other type of facility, preferably one that produces revenue for the city and doesn't have a lot of noise associated with it.

While Evans said the Uplands tract would be the "optimal" choice, he said the AFD would also consider building a station on the north side of Hwy. 290.

"We're going to find a way to provide protection out here either way," he said.