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City weighs site trade-offs and cost risk for Fire Station 27; staff favors city-owned FS Road parcel to avoid multimillion-dollar delays
Summary
City staff reported a $52 million public safety bond packaging and said moving Fire Station 27 off the city-owned FS Road site would add $2–4 million in acquisition/design costs and likely delay opening by about a year; staff recommended completing design on the FS Road (city-owned) site to protect funding for other station relocations.
City staff briefed the council on a site-selection update for Fire Station 27 and warned that swapping the preferred, city-owned FS Road parcel for a different commercial parcel would raise total program costs and threaten funds allocated to relocate Station 23.
Deputy City Administrator Sharon Io summarized the timeline: a 2022 gap analysis identified misalignment between station locations and call demand; the city hired Jacobs in 2023 to assist with costing and siting; a traffic-signal preemption model reduced the number of new stations needed and identified two strategic relocations. The preferred FS Road parcel is city-owned and carries no acquisition cost; staff reported an estimated $9.2 million construction cost and approximately $10 million total cost including sunk design work on that site.
Costs and risk: staff said an initial construction estimate for the five fire stations exceeded the public-safety bond allocation ($68.5M estimate for stations versus $52M bond allocation across public-safety projects). "Travel time is the largest part of response time and directly affects survival and property loss," Deputy City Administrator Sharon Io said when describing the need to act strategically. If the city moved to alternate private parcels, staff estimated land acquisition plus redesign and delay could add $2–4 million and push delivery about 12 months later, which would in turn jeopardize the planned relocation of Station 23 unless additional funding is identified.
Operational and community impacts: staff noted FS Road site design uncovered a significant tree-removal need (about 300 trees, 14 specimen trees) and that a replanting/protection plan would be developed. Staff also flagged impacts to the popular disc-golf course and said three holes would need temporary reconfiguration; staff proposed modest course upgrades (≈$45,000) as part of project mitigation.
Funding choices and schedule: the bond package includes allocations for the public-safety headquarters, 911 improvements, traffic signal preemption ($0.5M), and the two station projects; roughly $2.6M remains for project management and contingency. Staff recommended finishing design on the FS Road (city-owned) site to preserve contingency and to keep the Station 23 relocation viable. With a resumed schedule, staff estimated bidding and construction to open Station 27 in May 2028; staff said they aim to complete remaining design work in four to six months and advertise bids thereafter.
What’s next: staff will finalize the remaining design and the tree protection/replanting plan, coordinate with recreation staff on the disc-golf mitigation, and return with contract-level estimates and a construction schedule. No final site-vacating decision was taken at the working session.
