Submitted by Chris Durkee, Task Force Chair – The South Shore Fire Station Task Force (SSFSTF) is nearing the completion of our duties. Here is a summary of what we’ve accomplished so far:
Here is a summary of what we’ve accomplished so far:
- Reviewed deficiencies of current station 212, which include:
- Living quarters not built to current “essential facility” seismic standards
- Apparatus bay too small for current and future equipment
- Bathrooms lack privacy and equitable accommodations
- Confirmed need for a fire station in the south/east quadrant of Lake Oswego. Rationale includes:
- Without a 4th fire station, response times don’t comply with county standards and significantly reduce chances for positive outcomes on medical and fire calls.
- Maintaining 4 stations provides for growth in housing and senior facilities in this portion of town.
- If station 212 is eliminated, longer response times would result in likely loss of funding from Clackamas County and increase property insurance rates for city.
Established that the current location for Station 212 is optimum, because:
- Alternative sites were studied and shown to result in longer response times for much of 212’s service area.
- No developable City-owned property in s/e quadrant would yield better response times.
Eliminated the option of renovating the existing facility, because:
- No portion of existing station could be retained “as is”.
Developed a spatial -program for the future fire station:
- Fire Department leadership has developed a preliminary spatial program listing the areas (in square feet) that are required for each functional space
- Two Programs were selected as viable options – one for a station with a 30-year functional life (station would likely need expansion or major renovation after 30 years), and another for a station with a 50-year function life.
- Task force consensus is that the “50 year” station is our first choice.
Reviewed projected budgets based on comparable fire stations projects:
- We studied several stations of similar size that were built recently or are being built now.
- Project costs include hard (construction) and soft (design, permitting, project management, etc.) and were escalated to a 2027 anticipated start of construction.
- “30 year” station budget: $16.7 million to $17.7 M
- “50 year” station budget: $17.4 M to $18.4M
- Additional costs for transition (provision of fire and medical response while 212 is out of commission, or phasing) were also evaluated
- These costs are very preliminary and will be confirmed/refined by an architect and cost consultant this spring, if approved by City Council.
Determined that the most viable funding source would be a city bond:
- Funding options were discussed with the conclusion that primary funding will be from a city bond, presented to voters for approval in either November 2025 or May 2026. Grant funding for specific elements of the project will also be sought.
Meeting #5 of the SSFSTF will be on January 30th, agenda includes:
- Development of a Community Outreach program to inform voters of the project’s merits.
- Review first draft of Task Force’s report to the City Council.
The Task Force’s report to the City Council will likely be in early March, possibly at the March 4th council meeting.
Stay tuned – we’ll issue periodic updates on the Task Force’s progress. For more information or to provide input please visit lakeoswego.city/SSFSproject, contact Quin Brunner, LO Management Analyst (qbrunner@lakeoswego.city), or Chris Durkee, Task Force Chair (durkeechris@yahoo.com).
