Shea The town’s Public Safety Advisory Commission will assist the Town Council by making a recommendation on the selection of a site for relocating Fire Station No. 2.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan and fire department chiefs met with PSAC Oct. 8 to discuss the commission’s role in assisting with the process.

Council members had asked that PSAC be involved in making a decision on one of two sites.

At Buchanan’s suggestion, the commission, which normally meets quarterly, agreed to meet monthly over the next few months to discuss and review data related to the sites. A recommendation from the commission could come by March of next year.

The fire department recommended several years ago that station two located south of Shea Boulevard on Saguaro be relocated to address response time issues to parts of Fountain Hills.

One site on Shea Boulevard just east of Palisades was considered and a building designed for the location to accommodate a grant application to FEMA several years ago.

The grant was not awarded and the new station was not built.

Since that time a second site has come into the picture located on Fountain Hills Boulevard north of Shea across from Muskrat Drive. It is about half a mile from the Shea station site.

The “Muskrat” location will require the town to acquire the property, and a land exchange is under discussion with MCO Properties so the town would have ownership. That does not seem to be an issue beyond the process to accomplish the transaction.

There are also well-defined pros and cons to both sites, and council members have asked staff to provide a hard comparison of the two locations in cost terms.

The Shea location, for example, has a complete set of architectural plans ready for construction. However, it sits on a narrow section of right-of-way creating space and access issues.

If that site is used, there is room for just one and a half bays, which creates a space concern, and the trucks would need to be backed into the bays.

There is also a safety concern with six lanes of divided highway with high traffic volume and higher speeds.

There is also no available sewer connection at that site, and the cost of connecting some distance away is an unknown. Although generally considered “expensive,” an actual estimate would require engineering, a new cost in itself.

As for the Muskrat location, all utilities are in place on site and there is room for up to three bays and a pull-through drive, which the fire department prefers.

Fire Chief Randy Roberts said the additional bay space would provide a home for reserve vehicles, including an engine, which the department will have once a new truck is delivered early next year.

However, the department has been told the existing Shea plan is not readily adaptable to the Muskrat location, and the cost of modifying the plan would be nearly equal to a new design.

The site on Fountain Hills Boulevard is also much closer to residential properties than the one on Shea, and there needs to be discussion with those neighbors about having a fire station close by.

These are the issues where the council is looking for help from PSAC in making a comparison before making its ultimate decision.

The fire department has a clear preference for the Muskrat location, although Roberts said either site will work to improve the lagging response times in the south and western sections of town.

PSAC Chairman Lyle Edwards asked whether staff wanted a commission workgroup to help with the project. Buchanan said he prefers having the monthly meetings with the entire commission.

The town has $2.1 million in its capital improvement budget that is slated for the new station, meaning the council could act on starting the project by the end of this fiscal year.