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. If you're a target of Estrella's Facebook ads, you've probably seen promotions for Lucero. It's a new community being built near Star Tower on Estrella Parkway. It's slated to open this spring. Since Spring 2016, we've advocated for an additional fire station in Estrella to cover the quickly expanding community. In March 2018, I last went to Goodyear City Council to ask about the timeline of the opening of Lucero and the construction of Estrella's 2nd fire station. The City sent a written response saying it did not know when families would move into Lucero. But, the additional fire station was on track to open in the Fall of 2019... "slightly later than the original timeline of mid-summer 2019." The city's website now shows that date pushed back again to December 2019. Why do we care? 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 alarming response times and "tips" from within the fire community got us taking a closer look at the issue. You can find the history of our reporting and advocacy here.  At the Estrella house fire on March 27, 2016 - 9 minutes into the alarm - just 5 fire professionals 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. Even Goodyear City leaders have questioned why the response times in this All-America City are much longer than what they had been in the past. Eventually, Goodyear spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to hire a foreign firm out of the United Kingdom to study the city's fire services. (More.) The consultants came back and told Goodyear what it already knew. The city needed multiple new fire stations.
ESTRELLA'S SCHOOLS NEARING CAPACITYGranted, homes will take time to be built in Lucero. But the amount of construction in south Estrella, in Montecito and CantaMia, has exploded. The traffic is getting heavier. The grocery store is busier. Even the Liberty Elementary School District has discussed the timeline for opening up a new school. The Liberty Elementary School District recently discussed the issue of overcrowding in Estrella's schools. Link here. View the presentation from pages 51-66. 
Jen's Two Cents The lack of media coverage in the west Valley is concerning. Please pay attention to what your lawmakers are doing. And get informed before you vote. You have to make the extra effort because local media isn't cutting it.
Goodyear's council meetings are now broadcast on Facebook live. You also can find video recordings on its website if you miss the live show.
Future development and plans are currently in the works to bring the experience of Crocker Park located in Westlake, Ohio, a vertically integrated mixed-used lifestyle center, to the community of Goodyear with the expansion of the Market at Estrella Falls. ~Stark Enterprises In May, we blogged about the Estrella Falls Regional Center. Jobs in Goodyear 3 companies are bringing more than a thousand full-time jobs to Goodyear. Chewy, Ball, and UPS are expanding in our All-America City. Link. Growing Goodyear Construction begins on $4.7M Adelante Healthcare facility in Goodyear. Link. Check out all the Major Projects in Goodyear here. Wellspring Park We're excited to see Wellspring Park when it's completed. Lots of media about it already. Check it out here. Fire Services Expanding We've been advocating for new fire stations for a few years. You can check out the stations in the works here. Fine Arts Show If you have time, stop by the Goodyear Fine Art Show “Southwest is my Home” at the Goodyear Library! We have one of our favorite photos hanging in the show.
 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 |
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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