Graton getting new fire station amid siren dispute | PressDemocrat.com

Graton getting new fire station amid siren dispute

JEFF KAN LEE/The Press Democrat
A water tender leaves the soon-to-be-replaced Graton fire station on a mutual aid run.

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 7:29 p.m.

The Graton Fire Department has awarded a contract and will be breaking ground on a new station next month, replacing the old train depot that houses the current station.

Officials also said they are trying to settle a dispute with a citizens group that has sued to stop the department from taking its World War II-era siren to the new station.

“We are trying to come to an agreement,” said Deputy Chief Bill Bullard. “If we are willing to concede its use for non-emergencies, are they willing to concede its use for emergencies?”

Bullard said the volunteer fire district already has restricted the siren to emergencies, noontime and Thursday night training sessions.

He said they are setting up a citizens advisory committee to look for new technology to eventually replace the siren, and officials will monitor how well cell phones and pagers work in summoning volunteers.

Department officials, who contend cell phones and pagers are unreliable, said the county's board of zoning adjustments and Board of Supervisors have approved using the siren at the new station but wanted the advisory committee set up to look for alternatives and ways to limit use.

The Citizens for a Better Community filed suit in Sonoma County Superior Court on March 22 for an injunction, contending the siren is unnecessary, a nuisance and out-dated technology.

“It is outrageously loud,” said Tony Sebalo, a member of the citizens group.

Sebalo said if the department has changed its policy on the use of the siren, it is not apparent.

He also said he fears the advisory committee, which would be appointed by the fire department board of directors, will be tilted in the favor the department.

“They really have stonewalled and have not done anything,” Sebalo said. “They mean well. They are the fire department and we need them, but this siren business has gotten out of control.”

Danelle Jacobs, another member of the group, said they have granted the department extensions to respond to the suit, but department officials have not told them anything about what they are doing.

“We are so frustrated. We would love to hear from them that they have made some effort,” Jacobs said. “Our point of view is they are doing nothing.”

Graton is an all-volunteer department, with 25 volunteer firefighters and five trainees. Even the chief and deputy chief are volunteers.

It has 500 calls annually, which Bullard said makes it the busiest all-volunteer department in Sonoma County and the threshold for a department to begin hiring permanent staff.

Construction is scheduled to begin Aug. 30 for the new station at Highway 116 and Green Valley Road. The $3.52 million contract was awarded to Wright Construction of Santa Rosa.

The department, which relies primarily on property taxes to fund its $600,000 budget, has already spent $1.25 million on land, has saved $1.3 million towards construction and has a 30-year loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The new station will be 14,000 square feet and have enough room for its seven engines, boat, ATV and all of its equipment.

It will also have a training room, fitness room, kitchen, day room and four bedrooms.

It replaces the 1940s era building in downtown Graton that was a former train depot, It was converted to a fire department in 1951 and added on to in the 1960s.

The station is too small to house all of the equipment, leaving two of the engines, the boat and the ATV outside in the elements. Much of the equipment is now stored in two 40-foot cargo containers.

The front of the building leans outward, four-by-four pieces of lumber are used inside to support the structure, and the roof leaks badly in the rain, Bullard said.