NEW COMPLETION DATE ESTIMATION FOR FIRE STATION 186 IN ESTRELLA
The current estimation for Fire Station 186 is a completion date of December 2020 according to the City of Goodyear's website.
Fire Station 181, located west of Litchfield Road at Yuma, has not been operational. A new fire station will be built and is estimated to be completed March 2021.  12 years after an agreement was made, Estrella's 2nd fire station is getting closer to reality. Monday night, Goodyear lawmakers will vote on a resolution to move forward with hiring and training seven firefighters who would be stationed in Estrella. This would be for Estrella's 2nd fire station, 804 Station - a.k.a. Goodyear Fire Station 186. Goodyear's City Projects webpage shows the construction start date for this fire station is January 2019 with a budget of $5,050,000. It's estimated to be completed in December 2019. However, the fire chief tells me he expects opening in the Fall of 2019. WHY THE TIMELINE WAS MOVED UP Around 2006, the City of Goodyear, Newland, and then partner "Tousa" agreed to develop a second fire station in Estrella which was to be built and running by 2009. The economy tanked and the station was never built. It was to be constructed at Willis and Rainbow Valley Roads. In 2015, Fire Chief Luizzi addressed council about growing fire service demands throughout the City of Goodyear... and in Estrella. Over the next few months, he explained to council City triggers and thresholds which would cause the construction of an additional fire station in Estrella. At one point, Estrella 2nd fire station was not to be operational until 2025! Link Tragically, on March 26, 2016, an Estrella family found themselves the victims of a house fire early Easter morning. Their dog, Daisy, lost her life. The Estrella community pulled together raising over $20,000 in money and donations for the family. West Valley Families studied the response times for the house fire and reported on what really happened here. And the results left us asking... "What can we afford? We hope it's not lives."  At the Estrella house fire on March 27, 2016 - 9 minutes into the alarm - just 5 fire people were at the scene. Goodyear was first to respond at 8 minutes and 10 seconds. The national standard recommended 15 people weren’t on scene until 14 minutes and 58 seconds into the alarm. That’s 5 minutes and 58 seconds later than the NFPA 1710 standard. In June 2016, we were tipped that the City's agreement with local developers had lapsed. Our sources told us the agreement was "allowed to expire" and that funding for a second fire station was not in place. Report here. At the June 27, 2016 meeting, City Manager Brian Dalke revealed he spoke with a Newland representative just that week. And talking to Bill Olsen this week, there has been an understanding that the bones of an agreement are in place. It can be argued some of those elements may or may not apply. The fact of the matter is one of the partners - if you will - back to the earlier agreement is no longer there. So CantaMia for example - is AV Homes - will be part of any discussions.” ~GOODYEAR CITY MANAGER BRIAN DALKE, JUNE 27, 2016 THE CITY KEPT BUILDING During all of this, City lawmakers continued to approve building permits in the Estrella community.
We've lost count for more permits since we last checked. But, drive into Estrella and you'll see the tremendous amount of construction from Star Tower down through Montecito. Additionally, in Spring 2016, Goodyear City Council participated in a work session to discuss the FY17-26 Capital Improvement Program. About half way through the meeting, the presentation turned to "General Funded Programs - Projects Requests." City staff initially recommends fire stations be listed on deferral for future impact fees. We added fire stations to your list simply because of your recent conversations just to put it up here and let you know it’s on our radar… but that we know the study is pending and we’ll wait for that project. ~Lauri Wingenroth, Budget and Research Manager Priorities ahead of fire stations, listed at that meeting, included a recreation center and aquatics facility and ANOTHER STUDY TO THE TUNE OF $100,000 to find out where to place the train park. Coincidentally, Goodyear lawmakers also will hear a report this Monday night for the Recreation Campus Master Plan. Link KJZZ's Matthew Casey reported Goodyear taxpayers spent roughly $53,000 on a study to determine future fire service needs in Goodyear. The report was delivered in December 2016. Council called into question the study's metrics for the Estrella community... which led to a call for information about the lapsed developer agreement for the Estrella fire station. CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES In January 2016, Council quizzed the fire chief about a variety of ways to add service in Estrella without building a full fire station. We could do something smaller or different, could we not? ~Wally Campbell, City Councilmember
What would be the cost to add... a truck... or add additional personnel to the station we have? ~(Then) Vice Mayor Sheri Lauritano Councilmember Sheri Lauritano is an Estrella resident. She also said she was in Estrella and heard and saw the Easter morning fire which took place after this meeting. Adding just a two-man crew to the current station would be a "clock stopper" move. They'd be first to arrive. Because they'd be medical... they wouldn't be able to help on a structure fire at all. "So you're still waiting the time for additional support to come," states Fire Chief Luizzi. Even if you just put in a two-man crew, you still have a time and distance issue south of Ray Road. ~Fire Chief Luizzi Council member Bill Stipp has a great deal of knowledge on this topic and provided some thoughtful input that seemingly put this discussion on track. We know based on years and years of study that a two-person EMS companies are not nearly as effective as four-person EMS companies. So when we're talking about delivering service, what we're really talking about is just getting somebody there. That's it... Let's ask ourselves, 'What level of service do we want to provide?' If we want to provide just band-aids and a rub on the shoulder or rub your back, then two people is the way to go. If we want to provide advance life support, we need to be all in. ~Councilmember Bill Stipp LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION  In March, we reported a fire "team" reviewed the two potential locations for the Estrella fire station. Location #1: Rainbow Valley Road and Willis Road (Station No. 804) - Identified by Goodyear Fire
In addition to saving half a million dollars, a compelling reason Goodyear Fire wants the station be built on the original site location is due to convenience. "...the team evaluated turning movements to and from the site, access to the frontage and surrounding roadways, new short-term and long-term development of the area and proximity to other city facilities and infrastructure." Goodyear Staff Report JEN'S TWO CENTS Seeing Monday night's resolution on the Council agenda is encouraging. I'm proud to see the City of Goodyear keep this a priority along with the other needed fire stations throughout the city. Between fire stations, the rec campus, and water conservation, Monday night should be a good night for residents in this All-America City. OUR FIRE COVERAGE To get up to speed on what we've covered so far, please visit these links:
Recreation & Fire Services in Estrella: March 5, 2018 Estrella's 2nd Fire Station Could Be One Step Closer to Reality: February 26, 2017 Teamwork Will Bring Additional Fire Service to Estrella: January 24, 2017 Fire Service Future in Lawmakers' Hands: December 8, 2016 Patient Care Coordination Update: September 18, 2016 Waiting Game: July 11, 2016 CantaMia Growth and Fire Service Demands: July 10, 2016 Estrella House Fire Response Times: June 29, 2016 Goodyear Under Fire: June 28, 2016 Fire Station Funding: March 17, 2016 Triggers, Thresholds, and Fire Service Demands: March 10, 2016 Saving Lives, City Budgets, and Growth in Estrella: January 26, 2016 Community Paramedicine: December 2015 Goodyear City Council Work Session Recap PICKLEBALL OPPORTUNITIES Goodyear Parks and Rec Director David Seid admitted the department missed the ball and "the original scope and associated budget request were grossly underestimated" regarding pickleball courts. The City Staff Report states, "As a result, staff evaluated and identified the existing sport court area within the park as the ideal location for the pickleball facility. Staff determined that a modification of the existing courts could retain existing amenities as well as accommodate a new pickleball facility." And, "... staff explored an additional option (1) to accommodate adult softball play within Foothills Community Park. Staff determined that an expansion of an existing youth sized baseball field to an adult sized field could continue to accommodate youth baseball, as well as youth and adult softball. Adding additional user groups to the field does not impact current users as the scheduled use times do not conflict. Little League, the primary user of the facility, fully supports this option." Seid provided a couple of options about moving forward with pickleball courts and it appears Council is leaning toward Option 1... a $130,500 additional cost to complete ball field options at a total of $448,500. ESTRELLA FIRE STATION As we blogged last week, Goodyear Fire is looking at building Estrella's 2nd fire station at a previously dedicated site of Rainbow Valley and Willis Roads. As you may recall, a $53,000 fire station conducted by a foreign company identified Estrella Parkway and Willis Road as the most optimal location for a new fire station. During tonight's work session, it appeared Council is in agreement the Willis Road location will be the new home for the new fire station.
In 2016, I asked Council to delay construction of Lucero until additional fire services were in place. Estrella is a linear community and when one part of the community is stretched further... as Lucero will do... it puts additional strain on safety services. Goodyear already has 17+ minute response times to parts of CantaMia per the fire study. Now that construction is well underway at Lucero, I want to know what these two timelines look like today. Will a new fire station be up and running before the first family moves into Lucero? Goodyear's newest city manager, Julie Arendall, said the City would respond to me at a future date. THE NEW RESTAURANT AT THE PRESIDIO Also on the agenda tonight was a Series 12 Liquor License for Beach House Food and Spirit. Amy Jo Schlecht is the applicant for Beach House Food and Spirits which will operate in Estrella's Presidio Residents Club. MY TWO CENTS Tonight's Regular City Council Meeting was mostly attended by City staff.
The meeting ran late due to additional meetings... but residents are always invited to attend and get involved. Council won't know what resident needs are unless you go and speak up. We'd like to know what the point was for tax payers funding a 2016 Fire Station study. Why in the world did we pay a company out of England to tell us where to put fire stations when our local fire department will end up doing what they wanted to do from the very beginning???? ESTRELLA'S FIRE NEEDS
During all of the ongoing talks at the Goodyear level, fire employees told us response times in Estrella can take 17+ minutes in the southern portion of the community to CantaMia. The fire study confirmed that. Newland Communities is constructing Lucero, near Star Tower - a community of 1,250 homes your Goodyear lawmakers approved prior to building an additional fire station as I requested at a City meeting. Fire services are even more necessary than they were when I started voicing concerns in 2014. Estrella is a linear community stretching resources north and south and out to F.I.N.S., a hiking and biking trail near Westar. TRIGGERS AND THRESHOLDS
BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN
In addition to saving half a million dollars, a compelling reason Goodyear Fire wants the station be built on the original site location is due to convenience. "...the team evaluated turning movements to and from the site, access to the frontage and surrounding roadways, new short-term and long-term development of the area and proximity to other city facilities and infrastructure." Goodyear Staff Report MY TWO CENTS
"... and also I want to compliment the citizens. They weighed in on this, made a little noise, told us how important it is, and that helps council make decisions, too. It’s a team effort and thank you very much." ~MAYOR GEORGIA LORD, January 23, 2017 Estrella Mountain Residents is happy to report an agreement is now in place to locate and build Estrella's much needed second fire station. This comes after more than a year of reporting on City work sessions and council meetings regarding demands for fire service in our community... and after a devastating house fire leaving one Estrella family homeless on Easter morning 2016. THE BACKSTORY IN A NUTSHELL The City of Goodyear, Newland, and then partner "Tousa" agreed to develop a second fire station in Estrella which was to be built and running by 2009. The economy tanked and the station was never built. It was to be constructed at Willis and Rainbow Valley Roads. The City of Goodyear actually still owns that land. In 2015, Fire Chief Luizzi addressed council about growing fire service demands throughout the City of Goodyear... and in Estrella. Over the next few months, he explained to council City triggers and thresholds which would cause the construction of an additional fire station in Estrella. I think it's important to remind our readers that when the Fire Chief was to present in January 2016, his presentation was interrupted so many times that he was unable to finish. We asked that the City give him the opportunity to address Council once again with a full report. He was given that opportunity and fully explained the triggers and thresholds criteria - a good read if you want to fully understand what's happening in Estrella. EASTER MORNING FIRE Tragically, an Estrella family found themselves the victims of a house fire on Easter morning. Their dog, Daisy, lost her life. The Estrella community pulled together raising over $20,000 in money and donations for the family. Estrella Mountain Residents studied the response times for the house fire and reported on what really happened here. And the results left us asking... "What can we afford? We hope it's not lives."  At the Estrella house fire on March 27, 2016 - 9 minutes into the alarm - just 5 fire people were at the scene. Goodyear was first to respond at 8 minutes and 10 seconds. The national standard recommended 15 people weren’t on scene until 14 minutes and 58 seconds into the alarm. That’s 5 minutes and 58 seconds later than the NFPA 1710 standard. THE AGREEMENT In June 2016, we were tipped that the City's agreement with local developers had lapsed. Our sources told us the agreement was "allowed to expire" and that funding for a second fire station was not in place. Report here. At the June 27, 2016 meeting, City Manager Brian Dalke revealed he spoke with a Newland representative just that week. And talking to Bill Olsen this week, there has been an understanding that the bones of an agreement are in place. It can be argued some of those elements may or may not apply. The fact of the matter is one of the partners - if you will - back to the earlier agreement is no longer there. So CantaMia for example - is AV Homes - will be part of any discussions.” ~GOODYEAR CITY MANAGER BRIAN DALKE, JUNE 27, 2016 During all of this, City lawmakers continued to approve building permits in the Estrella community.
A RESIDENT PETITION In June, Estrella Mountain Residents started a petition. The residents of Estrella in Goodyear, Arizona respectfully request the City of Goodyear prioritize funding for Fire Station 186 sooner than the current timeline." ~iPETITIONS, JUNE 2016 Our goal was 250 signatures in a short time prior to a Goodyear City Council meeting. We surpassed 300 signatures and delivered it to Council. Residents chimed in.... The city manager along with the city council should save 65,000 dollars of our citizens tax dollars and allow the IAFF get the free study done and put that money to use for other more critical needs of the city. Please build Fire Station 186 city of Goodyear for the protection you want your tax paying citizens pay for. Amen! Overdue for 2nd fire station in Estrella. Safety for the residents of Esteella should come long before the proposed park. Let's roll!! We are definitely in need of another fire station in Estrella. The study has already been done, new homes are being started everyday. Please do not make someone lose their life or their home before we "git ur done"!!! Goodyear is constantly growing and if the trucks out there are on other calls when an emergency arises, the trucks in my area (Yuma and Sarival) would have to respond, leaving us unattended. TAXPAYER FUNDED STUDY
SEEING IS BELIEVING The taxpayer funded fire study reports the optimal location for a second Estrella fire station would not be at the current designation of Willis and Rainbow Valley Roads... but rather near Estrella Parkway and Willis Road. So, the 3 party agreement covers Capital Contributions, as well.
NOW WE WAIT The City of Goodyear must give a 180 day notice of intent to begin design with Capital Contributions. Because the action item was not on last night's meeting, the City was unable to give that notice. In fact, the City Attorney signaled it could be a couple more months before that action was taken... possibly around budget discussions. Members of the Council expressed desire to move up that timeline. Councilmember Stipp said, "June is too long to wait." It does appear the Council wants to get the construction of Estrella's second fire station going sooner rather than later. RESIDENTS ARE PART OF THE "TEAM" I was stunned to hear Council say, "Leadership made it happen." Council members patted themselves, staff, and developers on the back for making this agreement come together. However, it was Mayor Lord who acknowledged the citizens of this All-America City had an impact, as well. .. and also I want to compliment the citizens. They weighed in on this, made a little noise, told us how important it is, and that helps council make decisions, too. It’s a team effort and thank you very much." ~MAYOR GEORGIA LORD, January 23, 2017 THE VOTE A vote for a first Amendment to Development and Fire Service Agreement between the City of Goodyear, NNP III-Estrella Mountain Ranch, LLC and AV Homes of Arizona passed 7-0. In Attendance: Mayor Georgia Lord Vice Mayor Sheri Lauritano Councilmember Pizzillo Councilmember Campbell Councilmember Hohman Attending by Phone: Councilmember Stipp Councilmember Osborne Jen's Two Cents: This past year of reporting on this issue has been well worth the effort. I've learned a lot about the process... and I've learned a lot about the people who make the laws in our city. I stand behind all of my reporting despite public criticism and push back by two city leaders. Estrella needs a voice to make positive change. I'll continue to monitor fire service in Estrella as it's a moral obligation for our elected leaders to provide this basic service for us... and for generations to come. ~Jen Barber/Estrella Resident
PREVIOUS REPORTS Make no mistake about it, the West Valley is no longer getting the local government coverage it once had. This concerns us. And that's why we feel we have a responsibility to keep Estrella residents informed. To get up to speed on what we've covered so far, please visit these links: Waiting Game: July 11, 2016 CantaMia Growth and Fire Service Demands: July 10, 2016 Estrella House Fire Response Times: June 29, 2016 Goodyear Under Fire: June 28, 2016 Fire Station Funding: March 17, 2016 Triggers, Thresholds, and Fire Service Demands: March 10, 2016 Saving Lives, City Budgets, and Growth in Estrella: January 26, 2016 Community Paramedicine: December 2015 You will not find this extensive coverage anywhere else. SEPTEMBER 2016 UPDATEInfo from staff notes here. Goals of the paramedicine program are: The pilot project staff goals are; reducing the burden on the 911 system, creating more fiscal responsibility with tax payer dollars, decreasing unnecessary emergency room visits, opportunities for regional collaboration to maximize resources and creating a public/private partnership. New info: On June 1, 2016 the department was notified it received a service agreement for a regional pilot project for $120,000. Fiscal Analysis for 1 calendar year: The pilot project is supplied by Phoenix Health Plan Inc. who is owned by Tenet Healthcare and requires no match by the city. The grant will fund the development of training programs, provider training and the actual process of meeting with patients in the different cities. Salary costs and other associated equipment costs will be covered under the grant for all of the participating cities. THE COST PER CALL IS $270 USING A FOUR-PERSON RESPONSE CREW. See the city work session and review meeting minutes here.       ESTRELLA FIRE STATION UPDATE
COUNCIL RETREAT These issues will be discussed at the Goodyear City Council annual retreat. The public is welcome to attend to listen. OCTOBER 21 - 22, 2016 Goodyear Justice Center JEN'S TAKE Mayor Lord is doing a great job allowing the fire chief give his full presentations before council members start asking questions and interrupting. These meetings are so much easier to follow and understand.
We sincerely ask local media outlets to start paying attention and reporting on these issues. Resident tax dollars and livelihoods are on the line. ~jen Jen's Note: This is a blog opinion piece about my take from the Goodyear City Council worksession and in no way a representation of all residents in Estrella.
This worksession, February meeting, was very well run and I think our leaders are closer to making some headway on the topic. Unfortunately, the amount of time and tax dollars about to be spent is controversial. Goodyear Fire Chief Paul Luizzi was given the opportunity to make a full presentation regarding fire service in our All-America City. He thoroughly explained the triggers and thresholds for building new fire stations. He also discussed where the need currently is for improved fire service. The two main locations currently under review for building new fire stations are West Goodyear and Estrella... as discussed in this blog a month ago. TRIGGERS AND THRESHOLD REQUIREMENTS What are triggers and thresholds? They are the requirements which must be met before building new fire stations within various areas around our dispersed city. In 2008, triggers and thresholds for building new fire stations were set at:
ESTRELLA FIRE SERVICE HISTORY As it stands now, we have one fire station in Estrella. Fire station 182 is located on Estrella Parkway and Spring Drive near the Estrella Mountain Church. Fire station 182 had a call volume of 756 calls in 2015 and an average response time of 6 minutes and 42 seconds. If you recall from our last report, the main concern under review is service to south Estrella where Montecito and CantaMia are located. This area is referred to as the area south of the "Ray Road Alignment." In 2015, 58% of the calls to this area were reportedly MORE than 8 minutes from Fire Station 182. Calls increased 34% from 2014 to 2015 with a total number of calls to these southern villages being 147 annually. More than half of those calls were for EMS, not fire. This is the second of three triggers. Additionally, Buckeye Valley Fire District responded to 24 of these calls with a response time of 9 minutes and 58 seconds.  The only "trigger" being met for building a new fire station would be response times over 8 minutes because the number of calls to this area is just 147 annually... not the 500 which need to be met. The distance from Fire Station 182 to the area south of the Ray Road Alignment is 4 to 5.1 miles - under the 6 mile "trigger." ANOTHER AREA OF CONCERN IN ADDITION TO ESTRELLA West Goodyear is creeping up on meeting triggers and thresholds of its own. While no "triggers" are currently being met, the growth trends are showing it won't be long before they are.  SHOW ME THE MONEY The cost to build a fire station and staff it looks like this...  Goodyear's Director of Finance, Larry Lange, reports the city has $17 million dollars in GO bonding in which the voters already approved. So, instead of raising property taxes, the city can use these dollars to build the stations and use impact fees to pay for debt service. Since bonding is already approved, the city really needs to figure out a way to pay for the ongoing operating costs. Additionally, census funds can be used. AND the city reportedly holds $660,000 from Newland Communities and builders already collected to be used for constructing a fire station. A STUDY The Goodyear fire chief and staff essentially came to the worksession to discuss the option of conducting another study to see if the need is "now" for building these two fire stations. And boy... that questions rang some alarms. Here's a snapshot of the discussion. I guess the reason why I have a hard time getting my hands around it cause to me what should drive it, at least in my mind, is response times and what triggers happen to be. We’re not sure… We’re going to do a study today and 2 years from now, the whole growth pattern may change.” ~Councilmember Pizzillo Councilmember Joe Pizzillo says triggers should outweigh a study. Vice Mayor Sheri Lauritano, who lives in Estrella, has concerns about the redundancy in mutual aid and thinks a study would be good... and wants the study to include police service as the last study was conducted in 2008, a time when Goodyear was seeing exploding growth. We are getting a lot of medical calls.. and they say, ‘This might be a way to go’… I don’t know what the calls specifically are. But, I think the more information we get if we’re going to study it - let’s study it once - and get a plan because I know fire stations don’t magically appear in six months. We need some sort of plan in place as we grow.” ~Vice Mayor Sheri Lauritano Councilmember Joanne Osborne, who was not present for the January worksession, had some fantastic comments on this. She highlighted the concern of having response times over 9 minutes to Montecito and CantaMia in Estrella. She agrees with Councilmember Joe Pizzillo that staff should pin down triggers. She also points out that by the time the study is conducted, the next trigger of calls for service could be met. That’s critical to live saving. And that’s critical to brain damage, you know, any chance, you know, of having something be fixable. You’ve hit that for that threshold. And so, you know, it really does concern me when I see this eight minutes.” ~Councilmember Joanne Osborne Councilmember Osborne also asked if it would be feasible to partner with Maricopa County or the City of Buckeye to build the Estrella fire station south of Ray Road. Councilmember Sharolyn Hohman says studies are typically money flushed down the toilet. However, in this case, there's been so much growth and change since the last study in 2008 that it might make sense to conduct a fire service study. It would make sense that those plans may not be valid today, either, when we’re looking at fire and police for that matter.” ~Councilmember Sharolyn Hohman Last month, Councilmember Bill Stipp gave great insight into reasonable triggers and thresholds. While he was not at this worksession, he was able to provide input by phone. 1st, Councilmember Stipp asks Fire Chief Paul Luizzi what the real purpose is of conducting a study. To establish the proper location for stations. To establish the proper response and trigger threshold for construction of new stations. And really what we should be using now as our current response time, goals, benchmarks, and baselines, as we start to move forward and kinda see the city in a light of the way it’s being constructed now.” ~Goodyear Fire Chief Paul Luizzi So, if we’ve already identified twice now what the locations are based on the projected growth… I’m having a difficult time seeing what a third study is going to tell us that we don’t already know regarding the location of the stations.” Councilmember Bill Stipp Chief Luizzi defends the reason for the study. Is it valuable looking at the current station locations and are they in the right spots? And our future plan’s growth - are we currently going in the right areas?” ~Goodyear Fire Chief Paul Luizzi Then Councilmember Stipp points out the obvious. We know our police chief and our fire chief could want to say, ‘We need more,’ because we have allowed growth to occur in the pattern that we have and try to serve the community. So my concern is this report that we’re now going to PAY for - and I’m gonna tell you right now is going to be $50,000 and will police will be $65,000 to pay to have this report done - and it comes back and tells us that we’re ‘very short’ - what are we going to do then? Not that we don’t want to ask the question because we’re afraid of what the answer is, but we have to be prepared that intuitively we all know that we’re short and we all see the financial picture particularly as it’s laid out in the CIP that we’re not even talking about having, um, the development money till the early ’20’s… those could be five years too late.” ~Councilmember Bill Stipp Councilmember Stipp is in favor of putting the $65,000 needed for this study toward other needs. We gotta figure out a way to get ahead of this because… we’re maybe - what? - a year, year-and-a-half away, from just on the calls the western part just meeting on the number of calls. And it’s going to be more and more challenging up the hill [Estrella] when we get to south of Ray Road as a result of the redundancy with one outfit - or one station - not gonna be in. So nothing down there. And if you got a critical nature and it takes 10 minutes to get there, we’re gonna know what the result of that’s going to be. So, again, I think it’s real important to figure out a plan from a finance standpoint of how all this comes together.” ~Councilmember Joe Pizzillo Councilmember Joanne Osborne laid out the potential timeline for any real action to take place.
Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord pointed out the council and city staff need find a "balance" in the budget. What a shame we didn’t partner with Buckeye on a fire station.” ~Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord Mayor Lord is right on the money. The City of Goodyear is known for - and has been recognized for - its ability to partner with other cities and agencies to make great things happen here. While she knows there will be public criticism, she believes the majority of council is asking for finite stats. This is a very difficult, difficult situation to make decisions on.” ~Mayor Georgia Lord JEN'S TAKE This is a horrible decision to have to make. My concern is that the city continues to approve building permits resulting in more growth while these communities get closer and closer to tripping these triggers. Mayor Georgia Lord caps the discussion with this.... We did do this. When we have new communities, we notify the buyer, via their contract, on an addendum, what the response time was. And that we have a trigger of so many homes being built that that’s when it had to take place. So you have to be careful that you’re not gonna kill development. Cause if you kill the development, there goes your entertainment, there goes your retail, there goes all the things that you’ve all asked for and want. So it’s a really delicate balance here on how we end up with this.” ~Mayor Georgia Lord THANK YOU GOODYEAR for setting the tone for the meeting so the fire chief could be heard and not rushed. I also encourage the city to bring the next fire station "discussion" to Estrella so more residents will attend and be involved. We have one Estrella resident on the Goodyear City Council and decisions like this deserve more resident input. I appreciate your concern on this matter and taking the time to continue the discussion. Thank you. MEETING GALLERY LINKS GOODYEAR CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION FEBRUARY 29, 2016 HERE ESTRELLA MOUNTAIN RESIDENTS BLOG FROM JANUARY MEETING HERE 
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Barber is a Goodyear resident resident of almost 20 years and a retired broadcast news journalist. Involved in various nonprofit and city organizations since 2008, Barber has a unique view of what's happening in the West Valley of Arizona. 
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