North Liberty discusses two preferred locations for next fire station

NORTH LIBERTY — The North Liberty City Council on Tuesday discussed potential sites for the city’s second fire station and identified two preferred locations along St. Andrews Drive.

The North Liberty Fire Department and the city are pursuing a location for a second fire station as the city grows and faces an increased number of calls for service. Among the main priorities is to reduce response times.

Having the second station on St. Andrews Drive would allow the department to respond quicker to the increased calls from the south and west parts of town, as well as stay ahead of the growth expected in this area. The location would also make it easier to assist the main station on West Cherry Street.

The council took no formal action during the meeting but asked city staff questions and heard public comment from three individuals, including Harold Cameron, who owns the land along St. Andrews Drive.

Residents of the adjacent Harvest Estates have raised concerns about the proximity to their neighborhood.

Mayor Chris Hoffman said the city will continue to communicate with residents as discussions continue.

“I know this will be a topic on future council meetings,” Hoffman said.

Two preferred locations across from Centennial Park

Fire Chief Brian Platz previously told The Gazette the station “has to be in the right spot for decades to come, and that's not lost on us.”

In order to meet the needs of residents, the department and city said the second station should be located along St. Andrews Drive. The fire department and city used strategic planning, response time analysis and other data to help inform the location of a second station.

The area on the southwest side of town will see increased activity with the new University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics campus and events at Centennial Park.

In a Dec. 5 memo to the city council, City Administrator Ryan Heiar identified the two preferred options along St. Andrews Drive, both across from Centennial Park.

The first is across from the park’s eastern access drive adjacent to Harvest Estates neighborhood. The second is 300 feet west of site one and across from the park’s western access drive.

Resident concerns

Residents of Harvest Estates have raised concerns about having a fire station adjacent to their neighborhood. They worry about potential noise and additional activity, and the effect it could have on property values.

Landscaping buffers and how the building is located is expected to help mitigate impacts, Heiar said in the memo. The second option offers additional separation since it is farther from the neighborhood.

With the second site, the closest existing home would be 900 feet away, Heiar said.

Heiar told the council that the first site is the ideal “from a fire service best practice perspective,” but the second site is a “practical compromise.”

There could be challenges with utilities for the second site, but these challenges wouldn’t be known until the city got further into the design process, Heiar said. He added that the challenges would not be insurmountable.

Cameron, the land owner, said he “will not endorse either these preferred sites, one or two. I’ll only comment on the impacts that each will have.” Cameron brought up the impact on current residents and future development.

The memo also highlighted five other sites that were considered, as well as explanations why they are not among the preferred locations. Some of the barriers with the other sites were that it would create a gap in coverage, high property cost and high cost to extend public utilities.

Ryan Heiar Memo to North Liberty City Council 12-5-2022 by Gazetteonline on Scribd

Council member Brent Smith said the comments the council has received about the project matter and he appreciates the conversation.

Smith said some of the communication about the project has been unclear, especially initially when council heard about the second station in July.

“Some of the communication back and forth was not as clear as it could have been,” Smith said. “Typically when we talk of past actions of council, communication is always the piece we come back to and we can always improve.”

Smith said the city “missed the mark” on initial communication but has since done a better job. The city held a meeting with Harvest Estates residents in October and had an open house that same month.

“I certainly appreciated all the conversation that they had, and it did push and cultivate a lot more discussion in staff. It cultivated a lot more looking at possibilities and reasons why other sites might not meet certain criteria,” Smith said.

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com