Learn More About the Fire Department’s Growth and Plans for the Future on Oct. 17
When Brian Platz joined the City of North Liberty in 2017 as its first full-time fire chief, he was excited by the challenge of building a department to meet the needs of our growing community, and wanted to sure the department was part of the community beyond just emergency response.
One of the first steps to meeting the continually increasing needs of our fire district is the construction of a second fire station. The additional station will support the response coming from the headquarters at 25 W. Cherry St. for decades to come.
Our goals for a second fire station along St. Andrews Drive, proposed directly across from Centennial Park on the north side of St. Andrews Drive. are to reduce response times, have space for modern, larger fire apparatus and to be good neighbors and community members. The proposed station will improve service to our growing response area, including high-need facilities like the coming University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics campus and Keystone Place at Forevergreen, as well as serve events in Centennial Park and offer community space for things like CPR classes, school tours and even birthday parties.
We’re hosting an open house on Oct. 17, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the Fire Department’s headquarters where the public will have a chance to talk more about these plans and ask questions.
Below are answers to some of the common questions we’ve heard from community members about the proposed station.
Why was the site on St. Andrews Drive selected?
The Fire Department’s goal is to locate an engine company within 1.5 miles of each area of North Liberty. This is driven by the Insurance Services Office (ISO), which assigns a rating to the city reflective of its fire suppression services, water distribution system and emergency communications. With a large segment of the southwestern portion of the community well out of this range of Station 1, we identified the need for a westside fire station in our strategic plan.
To locate the proposed station, we identified properties that would provide the most city coverage within a 1.5-mile radius while not extending too far over the city boarder to the south. We also wanted to ensure that the new UIHC campus was within this 1.5-mile range as response times to that facility are particularly critical. Additionally, as the department continues to get busier, the westside station would provide backup to headquarters; the Fire Department currently has concurrent calls for service over 28% of the time.
Over the past three years, we considered four potential sites. Each would be too expensive to purchase or too expensive to develop. Ultimately, this site on St. Andrews Drive between Jones and Kansas provided the best overall coverage, allowed for quick back up to headquarters, could serve as a command post and weather shelter for Centennial Park, is already served by utilities and has reasonable development costs.
What are some of the impacts to the surrounding residential area?
The Fire Department wants to be part of the neighborhood and part of the community beyond emergency response. Our headquarters, Station 1, is positioned in a residential area. We interact with neighbors quite often and respect them by limiting engine running time and equipment operation when most neighbors are home. The department’s intent is to include a community and training room within the station that the community can use for tours, CPR classes, birthday parties and other functions. Many of the communities surrounding North Liberty have fire stations located in residential neighborhoods and have found it to be a positive experience.
How would the Fire Department limit any potential added noise to the neighborhood?
Like any development, additional noise can be expected, but we try hard to limit our impact. For instance, over 40% of our calls are responded to without emergency lights and siren. With the addition of this station, calls will be split between two stations, and the new station will initially run fewer than half of the calls of our current station. The plan for a pull-through station will eliminate the need for fire trucks to back up, significantly reducing these sounds compared to our headquarters. The site will also include a 20-foot landscaped buffer on three side and Centennial Park on the fourth.
Will the new station be staffed 24/7?
As the city grows, so will the department staff, but initially, the station will be staffed with paid-per-call personnel overnight during the week and the entire weekend.
How would a neighborhood fire station affect property value?
The experience of the Johnson County Assessor’s office, which revalues every property in the county every two years, suggests a fire station located in aneighborhood would not adversely affect property values. Typically, better ISO ratings improve property values and reduce property owners’ insurance costs.
How will this affect my insurance rates?
North Liberty currently has an ISO rating of 4, rated on a scale of 1 to 10 with lower being better. Our most recent evaluation was in the summer of 2017, prior to the use of full-time and part-time personnel and more robust training. Many recent adjustments to the department, including the planning of a second station, will greatly enhance our emergency response. These enhancements should set us up for significant improvement with the hopes of scoring at least a 2, much like Coralville and Iowa City. Lowering our ISO rating will positively affect insurance rates.
How would emergency response times improve?
It will cut many critical travel times in half.
Currently, it takes more than four minutes to get to this area of the city from our headquarters, Station 1. The Fire Department has conducted time trials with actual fire trucks and found that travel time, with a fire engine, from Station 1 to 575 Prairie Street is consistently four minutes and 15 seconds. Additionally, it takes well over five minutes to travel to Keystone Place or the new University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics site from Station 1. As the city sees more development and traffic congestion, this travel time will increase without this second station.
How do roundabouts affect emergency response?
Roundabouts are faster and safer than traditional four-way intersections for emergency response. While a four-way intersection requires a firetruck to stop, evaluate conditions and then proceed, a roundabout allows the driver to evaluate traffic from the left, usually slowing and then proceeding.
How will being near to a school affect emergency response?
The current fire station is a block from Penn Elementary School. Our experience is positive as we have developed relationships with students as they walk by. The fire station provides a refuge should a student feel threatened or get injured on the way to or from school. School traffic is largely coordinated, and we’ve not had responses slowed.
What type of trucks will be located at the new station?
The new station will house a pumper, platform ladder truck, a rescue truck and an ambulance operated by the Johnson County Ambulance Service.
The Fire Department currently has a 75-foot ladder truck, which is well short of our community needs. However, we can’t purchase and house a better-suited ladder truck as the current station isn’t deep enough. The current rescue truck will be relocated to the new station to position it closer to the interstate. Having an ambulance positioned in North Liberty will dramatically lower response times. This is an objective also found in the Fire Department’s strategic plan.
What type of driver training do fire department members receive?
All department members go through a series of steps before they are allowed to drive to an emergency. They first complete an Emergency Vehicle Operators Course (EVOC), which was developed and delivered by an outside agency. The course is six hours in length and includes classroom as well as driving evaluation. Each member must then demonstrate competency on each truck before allowed to drive. Annually, each member must successfully navigate a preplanned course without issue. We find this has increased our overall driving safety with very few recordable incidents as proof of that notion.
