Residents of the village of Baldwinsville shared their opinions about a proposed fire station on Smokey Hollow Road at a public hearing May 21.
The Village Board of Trustees adjourned the public hearing and deferred a decision on whether to let the North West Fire District build in a planned development district pending more information. Fire district representatives said they were planning an informational meeting for some time in June.
The Village Planning Board will continue with its own schedule in reviewing the district’s site plan application, as the trustees’ decision does not interfere with the planning process.
Eighteen residents spoke in opposition of the North West Fire District’s plan to replace the Baldwinsville Fire Department’s Station 3, located on Elizabeth Street in the former Lysander Highway Department garage. Eleven residents spoke in support of the fire district’s plan and two presented neutral opinions.
“The existing station does not meet the needs of the fire district,” said Jeff Budrow, an engineer with Weston and Sampson.
Budrow cited issues such as limited space and an inadequate water system that freezes during the winter at the current Station 3.
“It would require substantial investment to make it a real fire house,” Budrow said.
According to NWFD Chief Tom Perkins, the district has been planning to build a new station since the 2013 merger of the Lysander and Baldwinsville fire departments.
Perkins explained that the district was a year ahead of schedule with its plan to replace Station 3 because of a funding opportunity with a looming deadline. The NWFD is looking to apply for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan. If the district fails to submit its local application by July 1, it still can apply for the loan but would be competing nationally for the funding.
Budrow presented an overview of a few possible site plans for the Smokey Hollow Road station, which the district plans to build on 6.75 acres of land next to St. Mary’s Apartments. Budrow said the 11,500-square-foot station would include bays for three or four apparatuses and would have 30 parking spaces: 12 for first responders and 18 general parking spaces. There will be no siren, and the station will be used only for response and training purposes. Perkins said Station 3 answers an average 2.5 calls per day.
“It’s not a social station — it’s all business in here,” Budrow said.
The proposed fire station will feature a radio room, a lounge and bunk-in rooms for Onondaga Community College students training within the fire department. Budrow said 18 of the 30 firefighters assigned to Station 3 live within a few minutes of the Smokey Hollow Road location.
“Minutes save lives,” Budrow said.
Currently, the average response time for Station 3 is 4.5 minutes, and responses range as high as 12 minutes at peak traffic times. Budrow said the new station would reduce the response time to about one minute.
Budrow said the new station would follow New York state and federal laws for stormwater management and would not affect the groundwater levels or runoff patterns in the surrounding area.
Perkins said while education and prevention are important components of the fire district’s duties in the community, response to emergencies is key.
“It is imperative to have a fire station at the north side of the village,” he said. “Fires grow fast. During the incipient stage, fires can double in size in two to three minutes.”
Baldwinsville Fire Department Chief Court Rutherford said safety is one of the factors that attracts residents to the greater Baldwinsville area.
“I’ve never heard anybody say, ‘I wish I lived farther away from the fire department,’” he said.
Resident Rick Gell said he was generally in favor of the proposal but wondered if the fire district could take advantage of existing curb cuts to reduce disturbances caused by construction.
Another resident, Kathy Hill, said she was concerned by the “bottleneck” traffic the fire department faces in responding to emergencies.
Noise pollution
A little more than half the residents who spoke at the public hearing were against the construction of the station on Smokey Hollow Road.
Some residents questioned Budrow’s contention that the station would have only “minor impacts” on residents’ daily life.
Mary Anita Berry said she was concerned about how the noise from sirens would affect the elderly residents of St. Mary’s.
“There may not be a siren on the building, but there’s going to be a lot of noise and a lot of disruption,” Berry said. “Have they polled the residents of St. Mary’s? Do they feel those people can stay in there if the fire department is directly adjacent? … A lot of people have gone there for a quiet place in their final years.”
“I just think it’s awful that you’re going to have fire trucks with their sirens with all these elderly people,” Carol Barnett said. She also questioned why the fire district purchased the property if they knew it wasn’t zoned for a fire station: “What is the exit strategy if this doesn’t go through?”
Later in the meeting, Perkins told Mayor Dick Clarke that the fire district does not have a backup plan at this time, but the district would look into purchasing another suitable site if it came to that.
Mary Anita Berry’s son, Michael Berry, said he had heard that a St. Mary’s employee had told neighboring residents that the police would be called if they tried to enter the property to speak with apartment residents against the fire district’s proposal. Neighbor Kelly Coomey said the property manager threatened to call the police when she went to the apartments to hand out information.
Property values
Other residents raised concerns about the effect the fire station would have on their property values.
“You’ve heard the expression ‘not in my backyard.’ Well, this is right in my backyard,” B.J. Hartnett said.
Hartnett said one of the reasons he purchased his property was the secluded woods in the area. Coomey said she enjoyed her “serene” backyard and to have to look at a fire station, hear 120-decibel sirens and deal with diesel exhaust would be “completely unacceptable.”
Dan Quirino said real estate agents with whom he had spoken said if the fire station were to be built, his property would decline in value because of its proximity to the site, and neighboring property values would follow suit.
Mayor Dick Clarke said later in the meeting that he had spoken to real estate agents too, and they said some buyers would be attracted to the area because of the fire station, and other people would be dissuaded from buying in that area.
Wetlands and water
In addition to property value fluctuations, residents raised the issue of the wetlands on Smokey Hollow Road and drainage concerns.
Michael Berry said he had called the state Department of Environmental Conservation and was told that the fire department had not made an inquiry about the wetlands on 104 Smokey Hollow Road, though they had inquired about an adjacent property several years ago.
Jim Ebersbach said he was concerned about flooding and the building sinking into the muck.
“I’m afraid you’re going to create a problem that we as homeowners can’t handle ourselves,” he said.
Joe Cellini said the risk of flooding neighboring properties and driving wildlife out of their habitats made Smokey Hollow Road a “highly inappropriate” location for the new fire station.
“We are being very poor stewards of our wildlife and the wetlands,” he said. “If it goes in, I will sell. You’ll lose a taxpayer.”
Joyce Ramseyer said she was concerned about “carcinogens and toxins” leaching into the groundwater from oil, de-icer, salt and soap from firetrucks. Later, Rutherford said soap, water and other materials from washing and maintaining the firetrucks run into a separate trap and are not pumped into the yard.
The planning board was scheduled to review the NWFD’s site plan at its Tuesday, May 26, meeting. The village board next meets at 7:30 p.m. June 4. To view portions of Budrow’s presentation to the village board, visit facebook.com/BaldwinsvilleVolFireCompany.
