More than a decade's worth of hard work reached its apex Thursday, Aug. 13, when golden shovels plunged into the earth to mark the groundbreaking of the city's fourth fire station.
"We've been working on this for over a decade," Fire Chief Steve Sims said. "When you build a fire station, that's an improvement in safety and efficiency for residents."
The new station will be located in the Highlands on a 4.31-acre parcel just south of the intersection of Forest Hills Boulevard and Buckstone Drive. The city purchased the land last spring from Village Bible Free Evangelical Church for approximately $172,000.
"The previous administration really started the ball rolling," Mayor Peter Christie said. "We spent a lot of time on the new station working with (Bentonville) Mayor Bob McCaslin and Bentonville Fire Chief Brent Boydston. Our building and (Bentonville Fire Station No. 6) have an almost identical footprint. I'm very comfortable that we're covering all the bases for a functional, efficient and effective station.
Plans for Bella Vista's Highlands Gate Station call for a 9,200-square-foot facility with space for six bedrooms and three bathrooms. Between nine and 12 firefighters will work at the station, covering the west-central portion of the city. Construction could begin in mid-September, Sims said, with a tentative opening date set for spring 2016.
Clinard Construction Management, of Bentonville, will oversee the project, which is expected to cost approximately $2.4 million. City officials said last year they expect to pull some money from its reserve fund to pay for the station. The city has approximately $7.5 million in its reserves.
Sims said the addition of a fourth fire station will reduce the workload on firefighters at Station No. 1, 103 Town Center West. Data provided by the fire department shows that 2014 was the busiest year on record.
Station No. 1, established in 1969, handles about 60 percent of all calls, so having a station in the Highlands would cut into that amount significantly, by almost one-third, Sims said. Response times also would drop. Currently, trips from Station No. 1 to the Highlands take between 18 and 22 minutes. Once the new station opens, Sims said he expects those numbers to be cut in half.
"The new station is a great addition to the city," Sims said. "It's going to be so great for the residents in the Highlands and on the west side of town."
Talks of a fourth fire station predate Sims, who arrived in Bella Vista as a firefighter/paramedic in 1995. The city grew rapidly between 1980 and 2000, morphing from a sleepy retirement village of about 10,000 residents to a thriving bedroom community. Today, census data estimates Bella Vista has a population of around 27,000.
Over that span, a fourth fire station became a necessity to adequately cover the city, Sims said.
Meanwhile, Jack Fellenzer, a chairman for the non-profit group Citizens to Help Improve Public Safety, said being on hand for the groundbreaking was like a dream come true.
"It took a lot of effort," Fellenzer said. "I've got to hand it to everybody on the CHIPS committee."
Fellenzer, who along with Kelly Dostart, Gary Pinkerton, Linda Lloyd and the help of several others, worked through CHIPS to rally support for a millage increase to fund the city's police and fire pensions. The committee raised awareness of the city's need for a fourth station by speaking to civic groups, passing out brochures and running ads in the newspaper, Fellenzer said.
After votes approved the millage increase, it allowed for the Fire Department to reallocate funding to hire the necessary personnel for the new station, Sims said.
"Everybody worked really hard to go get this through," Fellenzer added.
Arlene Hutchinson, a former alderwoman who was an avid supporter of a fourth fire station, attended Tuesday's groundbreaking and said she was glad the project finally is coming to fruition.
"It's just wonderful," she said. "It's something we've needed for so long."
General News on 08/19/2015