The Tyrone Town Council is considering granting a 1,000 gallon per day sewer allowance to Fayette County Public Safety for the replacement of Fire Station #3 located on Senoia Road near the old downtown area.
Fayette County Public Safety Director Allen McCullough at the council retreat last weekend said the county is ready to go forward with land acquisition for the replacement station and is looking for direction from the town on granting a 1,000 gallon per day allowance for sewer that would be needed at the new station.
Deputy Fire Chief Tom Bartlett told the council that the county is currently looking at three possible sites as a location for the new station. While the location of those sites was not divulged, Bartlett said the pertinent factors involved in determining the site for the replacement station are response time, sewer access and site cost.
Locating the new station further to the south of the old downtown area would result in some slight increase in response time while a move further to the north would result in a decrease, Bartlett said.
McCullough in a Feb. 25 letter said Station #3, built in the 1970s as a volunteer station, is experiencing limitations. Among those were size limitations and the septic failure that occurred in February 2008. McCullough said that the state had indicated that the station would have to be closed if another septic failure occurred.
McCullough said geo-technical studies had been performed on the areas adjacent to the current station. Those studies showed that the only suitable area in close proximity was at Triangle Park, an area that is not available for consideration.
Bartlett said the replacement station as planned would total 12,000-15,000 square feet with three bays instead on the current two-bay station. The new station will also have a community room, Bartlett said.
The council will review the county’s proposal of granting the 1,000 gallon per day need and, per the county’s request, render a decision within 30-45 days.
Bartlett at the March 4 council meeting reported on Station #3 activities for 2009. He said there were 580 incidents to which the station responded, with an average response time of 4 minutes, 27 seconds. Property losses from fires totaled $135,200 during the year. The Fire Marshal’s office also conducted 138 fire prevention inspections during the year, Bartlett said.
