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Fire Commissioners gave a final public presentation of plans for an addition to Lansing Central Fire Station Wednesday.  Commissioner Jeff Walters had polished his presentation of the $2.3 million capital project that will add an equipment bay, address safety problems, and add a bunking facility to the districts primary fire station, with no additional taxes to Lansing property owners.

"We have $1.2 million already reserved for this in the capital plan," Walters said.  "The rest (annual bond interest payments) is budgeted.  With soft goods and all it is roughly $2.3 million for the whole project.  We're planning on financing about $750,000, which is in the budget for the capital plan.  So there will not be a tax increase.  The tax rate should stay at 99 cents with no problem.  That also leaves us with money in the reserve so that if a roof blows off a fire station we still have money."


As at the May 26th meeting, almost nobody from the community attended the presentation.  Of those who did there was some concern about additional lighting and how it might affect the neighborhood, but Walters said that the only new lighting would be on the outside of the building focussed down.

The discussion took another turn when Chris Katz, a Lansing volunteer who works for Bangs Ambulance, brought up the issue of paid emergency responders.  Katz said that being on the verge of building a $2.3 million addition should be a time when the piece that uses the facility and equipment -- people -- is considered.  Katz said that the department can't guarantee a consistent timely response unless it hires at least some paid emergency responders.

This sparked an argument that became heated at times, with Commissioners noting that the cost could raise the tax rate from 99 cents to three dollars in order to hire a handful of paid responders.   Commissioners and Fire Chief Scott Purcell defended the department's performance, noting that that Lansing meets the national average for response time.

 "We're trying to provide the best service we can with a volunteer agency, but I can't guarantee that tomorrow night when you call 911 I can get trucks to your front door within five minutes," Purcell said.  "It depends on the time of day.  If we have guys training here we can get trucks out in a matter of a minute.  But the next night they're all home and you're talking four, five, six minutes to get here and a couple more minutes to get on the road."


When you call 911 the County Emergency Response service radios an 'activation' to call Lansing volunteers to the scene.  If there is no response additional activations are triggered until Lansing or one a nearby fire department that has a mutual aid agreement with Lansing responds.  Lansing responders typically go to a fire station, usually Central Station, to get equipment and emergency vehicles.  Officials estimate it takes five or six minutes on average to get there, a few minutes to 'suit up' and another six or so to get to the emergency, depending on where in town it is.

The department covers the largest area in Tompkins County, and receives more calls -- about 1100 last year -- than neighboring volunteer fire departments.  Over half those calls are in the Village of Lansing, serving the malls, apartment complexes, businesses and homes there.  EMS calls serve Lansing and non-Lansing people alike.  Purcell noted that no fire department -- paid or volunteer -- can guarantee that people won't die in emergencies.  He said slow response time has not factored in fatalities, but noted that it could.

"Sooner or later it's going to," he said.  "In every place across the country people die in fires.  It's just a matter of time before it happens here.  You've got all the apartment complexes in the Village.  When they go they're going to go."

District Secretary Alvin Parker noted that you have to balance the level of service you can provide with what the property owners are willing to pay.  "What do the people want to pay for?" Parker asked.  "What will they bear?"

In the past surveys have shown that Lansing is not ready to pay for a salaried department.  Commissioners have also said that when some are salaried it becomes much harder to recruit volunteers, something that is already a problem.  Most people seem to think the service is adequate, but Katz said that is because they are not aware of the level of service they should expect.

"The best volunteer fire fighters in the county and beyond are in Lansing," he said.  "The pool of knowledge here is spectacular.  I'm not criticizing the department of saying unfavorable things for the sake of it.  My concern is that everybody who is having a heart attack or a fire in the community knows what to expect and gets it.  And that the fire department take the opportunity to think about how to improve the service and continue improving.  I think if a 'man down' goes to three activations, that's a problem."

But resident Pat Pryor said that she is satisfied that building attractive bunking space is a good first step toward improving response time by providing housing for 'bunkers' who would cut out the time it takes to get to Central Station because they would be living there.  Current bunking space offers no privacy, and doesn't meet current safety code.  Officials say that with private rooms, better bathrooms, and a kitchen they hope to build a bunker program along the lines of the successful one in Cayuga Heights.

"The bunking program seems like the logical next step, because you're not actually paying them, but you are getting people who are here," Snyder noted.

Walters says that with little concern expressed by the public commissioners could vote on bringing the project to a public vote as early as the July 7th Fire Commissioners meeting.  The soonest a vote could happen would be late summer.  That would mean construction could begin in the 2010 construction season.

"Once we get voter approval it would take six to eight months to prepare the bidding documents," explained architect Sandell Snyder.  "That would bring us through the winter.  Ideally we would send it out to bid in the Spring.  That's when you get the best prices.  We'd begin construction as soon as the weather breaks."

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