By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
The Ross Bridge Fire Station is closer to construction following a series of recent actions by the Hoover City Council.
The council at its Feb. 3 meeting authorized the mayor to execute three agreements which include:
•An agreement with Daniel Ross Bridge LLC to donate three acres at Greenside Way and Market Street near the Ross Bridge Village Center so Hoover can complete a section of road, build parking lots and construct a new fire station.
•An agreement with Dungan Nequette Architects Inc. to design the new fire station.
•An agreement with Alabama Engineering Co. to prepare the site for a new fire station.
The city plans to complete an unfinished portion of Greenside Way–about 800 feet–and build about 80 parking spaces at the Ross Bridge Village Center to help with traffic at the new fire station. Those improvements will cost Hoover about $300,000, the agreement states.
Allen Pate, the city’s executive director, said Daniel owns property where the station is being built. Because the property sits undeveloped, Daniel didn’t need to complete the road. However, if Daniel sells the property, it must reimburse Hoover proportionate to the amount of property it sells. For example, if Daniel sells three acres of the nine-acre property, it must reimburse Hoover 33 percent of the cost the city incurred to make improvements, Pate said.
However, if Daniel doesn’t sell any of the property after five years, the company must reimburse Hoover the entire $300,000, Pate said.
The other agreement the city approved addresses design plans. Dungan Nequette Architects will be paid seven percent, or $87,500, of the cost of the overall project, which is expected to cost about $1.25 million.
The agreement with Alabama Engineering addresses the engineering work involved in preparing the site for construction of a fire station. The city will pay Alabama Engineering $17,000 for its services.
While plans move forward for the construction of the fire station, the city will put up a temporary trailer to house firefighters working the Ross Bridge area and a temporary garage for fire trucks. The temporary facilities should be staffed by March 1, Mayor Gary Ivey said.
The city needs to build a new fire station in Ross Bridge to reduce response time to the growing community with nearly 1,300 homes and 500 apartment units, said Hoover Fire Chief Chuck Wingate. The fire department’s response time to Ross Bridge is currently 12 minutes, he said. But with a new fire station in the Ross Bridge area, response time should be between four to six minutes, Wingate said.
“Ross Bridge has grown so much our response time is getting too long,” Ivey said. “It creates insurance problems for our homeowners, but more than insurance problems, it’s a life-altering deal. The response is very important to how quickly our fire department can get to an emergency situation.”
Emergency response time factors into a city’s insurance ratings. A better rating can result in savings on home insurance.
Pate said if all goes as planned, construction on the fire station should begin June 15 and take about 10 months to complete.
