Brunswick City Council discusses deteriorating condition of city fire stations – cleveland.com

BRUNSWICK, Ohio — In a Feb. 7 City Council goal-setting session for 2022, topics included city infrastructure needs, long-range economic development, the current status of the city’s road levy and pending need for its renewal, and issues related to stormwater.

The deteriorating condition of the city’s two fire stations, however, garnered a lion’s share of the conversation.

Fire Chief Greg Glauner and Assistant Fire Chief Russ Merhaut said integrating current National Fire Protection Association standards related to fire personnel occupational safety, health and wellness; separating laundry facilities to isolate equipment contaminated by fire and smoke exposure; designing stations for faster turnaround times; and fire sprinkler installation at the city’s two stations have become “critical.”

Glauner noted that Fire Station 1, at 4383 Center Road, was built in 1960. Additional bays were installed in the 1970s, at a time when the department was all volunteer.

He pointed to immediate concerns: undersized bay doors, no dedicated locker rooms for personal items, no dedicated meeting or training rooms, the presence of asbestos (though professionally encapsulated), small sleeping quarters and a shared shower.

“There are no dedicated gender facilities and (this) must be considered,” Glauner said, pointing out that this may also be negatively affecting the department’s ability to hire a more diverse workforce.

Councilwoman-at-Large Kristy Piper said this point is particularly concerning to her.

Glauner went on to say that Station 2, at 3410 Grafton Road, was built in 1980, also as a volunteer fire house, and has many of the same issues as Station 1.

“If the Division of Fire were to operate out of a single, centrally located station, the response model could be designed in a way to answer three medical calls at once,” Glauner said. “Medical units could be staffed with two personnel instead of three and followed by a chase (or) utility (vehicle) to assist on the scene.

“Many calls can be transported with two paramedics once the patient is stabilized, thus allowing the third person to be available at the station.”

Ward 2 Councilman Nick Hanek said the city has set aside $3.5 million in EMS billing funds earmarked for station improvements.

Ward 3 Councilman Brandon Lambert asked Glauner if using those funds now to make improvements at the stations was an option.

“I hate to say it, but in my estimation — and I know there would be lots of controversy — in terms of growth, ultimately the central station is the best response model for the future,” Glauner said.

Councilman-at-Large Tim Smith asked Glauner where he envisions a central station would be located. Glauner replied that the geographic east-west center of the city is roughly at Hadcock Road.

Smith also asked if pooling the resources of surrounding departments could be beneficial to issues such as response times.

“(Brunswick Hills Township Fire) Chief (Anthony) Strazzo and I have a great relationship and have mutually agreed to a ‘closest unit’ response,” Glauner said. “We actually already do really well with mutual aid and automatic aid (with all surrounding fire departments).”

Finance Director Todd Fischer said construction of a new station could cost up to $12.5 million.

Glauner added that the city is not eligible for sources of funding such as Department of Agriculture grants available to departments in townships and other rural areas. These funds have aided recent fire station construction in communities such as Hinckley and Montville townships.

Ward 4 Councilman Anthony Capretta suggested organizing public tours of the city’s fire stations to make residents more aware of the conditions.

Councilman At-Large Joe Delsanter also urged fiscal caution with any future station construction.

No formal decisions regarding the fire station facilities were made by council at the Feb. 7 meeting.

Read more news from the Brunswick Sun.

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