About 25 residents – most of them community leaders – turned out for a public presentation on two new fire stations planned in The Woodlands.
The session, sponsored by The Woodlands Township, was designed to get feedback from the community on the locations and designs of the new stations, which will be funded by bonds approved by voters in November.
Fire Station 7, which is planned in Creekside Park in a new median created by the redesign of Kuykendahl Road, is scheduled to open in July 2011. Station 8, which has been proposed for Gosling Road behind the Tallowberry neighborhood, is expected to open in January 2012. Both projects will be bid out together.
“Part of the extended process on these sites is the feedback of the community,” said Don Norrell, president of The Woodlands Township. “We don’t want anyone to think we have purchased the sites, and it is underway.”
Anthony Fasone, who served as a member of The Woodlands Association board, asked if the township was confident that the redesign of Kuykendahl Road will take place by the time construction starts on Fire Station 7 in July.
“We feel comfortable that things will fall in place,” said Carl Joiner, the architect on the two stations. “If it doesn’t happen, we’ll start Station 8 first and move back to Station 7 in about six months. We don’t totally control that.”
John Nanninga, a member of the Sterling Ridge Village Association, questioned the roof material for Station 7, saying the metal covering could be a distraction for drivers and be damaged during hail storms.
“If there is traffic on either side, that bright metal roof will hit them in the eyes,” Nanninga said. “I still wouldn’t use that there. Hail damage wouldn’t be cover under insurance.”
Nanninga also questioned whether fire trucks at the Gosling Road station could be stranded by rising floodwaters from Spring Creek, since the proposed site is located in and around flood plain on the waterway. Woodlands Fire Chief Alan Benson said the area was not affected by the 1994 flood in Montgomery County, and Joiner said the area is very stable.
The two sites under consideration are owned by The Woodlands Development Co. and would be donated to The Woodlands Fire Department. Although other sites were investigated, these two provide the best strategic location to reduce response time to the standard five minutes, to provide equal levels of service throughout the community, to serve expanding areas and to maintain – or even improve –the departments insurance rating, Benson said.
The proposed site for Fire Station 8 is located on Gosling Road, halfway between Flintridge Drive and the entrance to Creekide Park on the east side of the street. The station would be located behind the Tallowberry neighborhood, but would be 200 feet from the nearest home, with a heavy forest buffer, Benson said.
A $17.3 million bond issue approved by voter would fund the two stations as well as the renovation of the Central Fire Station on Grogan’s Mill Road and the purchase of equipment for the stations. Each new station is expected to cost about $3.7 million, with another $2.5 million for equipment.
Fire Station 7 would include a fire engine, a rescue boat and a brush pumper for fighting forest fires. It also would house an ambulance from the Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Service, which provide ambulance services in Creekside Park. It would be manned around the clock by four firefighters a shift.
“We can’t guarantee an ambulance will be there all the time, but it will be more available to serve the area,” Benson said.
Station 8 will include a ladder truck, and the fire department is considering moving its rescue operations to the site, Benson said.
In addition to serving Creekside Park, the new stations would serve areas in Panther Creek and Indian Springs, where response times exceeded eight minutes, far beyond the five minute standard set in The Woodlands. It also would backup other stations in the south western Woodlands areas, Benson said.
Fire Stations for Creekside Park and Indian Springs
The Woodlands Fire Department provided a presentation on the location and designs of two new fire stations to serve Creekside Park and Indian Springs. Following are the key features of each stations:
Station 7, Creekside Park
• Proposed location is on a new median created by the redesign of Kuykendahl Road
• Two acre site
• Will house fire engine, rescue boat, brush pumper
• Will house ambulance for Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Service
• Manned 24/7 by four firefighters
• Cost is $3.7
• Expected to open in July 2011
Station 8, Indian Spring
• Proposed location is on the east side of Gosling Road, halfway between Flintridge and the entrance to Creekside Park.
• 4.43 acre site includes floodplain
• Will house ladder truck; department may relocate rescue operation there
• Manned 24/7 by four firefighters
• Cost is $3.7 million
• Expected to open in January 2012
Source: The Woodlands Fire Department
