Cuyahoga Falls City Council holds regular meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Council committee meetings are held on the first and third Mondays in order to allow councilmembers to publicly discuss pending legislation that will be voted on at regular meetings. The public is free to comment on pending legislation during the allowed time set aside as part of committee meetings.
B-76: An ordinance accepting the recommendation of the planning commission for the construction of a new fire station and training facilities for the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, located at 3097 Northampton Road.
With a crowd of over 160 residents, firefighters, and community leaders both past and present the discussion on this proposed project was started off with a statement by Mayor Walters describing the state of Station 4 being well past the end of its usable lifespan. Being a city that prides itself on having the best trained safety forces it’s only natural that along with the new fire station at this location a state-of-the-art training center goes along with this project.
Planning Director Rob Kurtz went over the findings of the planning commission’s approval during their June 20 meeting, which included lighting, landscaping, screening and stormwater. Chief Martin took the podium next, explaining that his department’s goal for this project is to take public safety training to a new level. He wanted to put to rest some of the rumors and misinformation that had been circulating over the training center part of the project. These included:
- Smoke. EPA regulations forbid anything other than class A materials.
- Water runoff. The burns will have little or no water runoff; whatever water used will be trapped then filtered.
- Traffic concerns. Ample parking on site and all vehicles entering the center will do so from the main roads.
- Aesthetics. There were three vendors in the running for this project and one was eliminated solely based on appearance. The final color of the selected training building has not been decided yet.
- Site Selection. The site was chosen based on safety, room and the support of the fire department currently on site.
- Regional usage. Currently there are 16 interested departments, several of which provide mutual aid to our city. Martin noted that that aspect of the plan means our back-up responders will also be highly trained as a result.
- Noise. Chief Martin dispelled any belief that there would be sirens blaring and other unnecessary noises. Sirens are only permitted on emergency calls and described the noises coming from the training center as no more than you would hear with a home DIY project.
- Damage to the national park. Martin assured those present that the training center couldn’t hurt the national park if they tried. There is nothing taking place within the training center that will be of any problem to the park.
Deputy Chief Jack Breese took over the presentation, giving the committee a virtual tour of the new station. Some of the highlights of the new 9k sq. foot building include accommodations for six firefighters, areas to fill oxygen tanks and, using lessons learned during COVID, the layout will utilize a clean side room for items that were used in the field to be processed. This includes a hose tower that allows firefighters a vertical area to hang firehoses to dry after use and subsequent cleaning. From there, Deputy Chief of Training Matt Kee went over the features and layout of the training center, showing the proposed facility will be capable of all levels of strategic education including rope and ladder training, indoor smoke training, and classroom training for up to 50 firefighters. Kee said this facility is much more than just live burn drills.
Retired Geneva Ohio Chief Arkenburg showed the committee photos of the training center his department operates in Geneva and answered questions from the committee. He also led a tour with a few members of Cuyahoga Falls City Council last Friday. Response from the members attending was very positive and there was a consensus amongst those who watched the live fire drill that there was virtually no smoke seen outside of the facility at all.
When Committee Chair Susan Spinner opened the discussion to council, Ward 8 Councilman Frank Stams asked to place the legislation on hold until the members of council who could not make it the last Friday’s demonstration drill in Geneva could see it hands-on prior to making their decision. Spinner advised him to try to get something set up in the next week. From there the discussion was opened to the public. Many of the residents who spoke against the training facility made it clear they had nothing against the new fire station being at the proposed location but were adamantly against the training facility. Chief Martin repeated many times that the training center needed to be located on site due to response concerns. Several residents had also contacted the owner of a property adjacent to the fire station on Wyoga Lake Rd and their sale price was stated to the committee as $350,000. The proposal to the city was to put the training center at that location rather than the property proposed. Many comments were focused on not knowing about the project until a few weeks ago and questioned how the city distributed its legislative information. This project was the subject of budget hearings in 2021 and 2022 and links to the minutes are available at the city’s website as well as links to upcoming legislation to be discussed by council under the city council tab of the city’s website. Other discussion was rather spirited and went as far as to say that our firefighters are already the best of the best and need no further training. After 3 hours of both sides airing their comments and concerns the committee voted to bring this out for a vote before full council next Monday. On Monday three things can happen: a vote can be made to table the ordinance; it can be voted back to its committee; or it can be voted on with or without amendments and passed.
For more information on the proposed station and training center follow the link. https://www.cityofcf.com/proposed-fire-station-training-facility
