December 17, 2003

WRT fire department eyes new land

       Business and home developers aren’t the only ones trying to buy expensive and hard-to-find underdeveloped land near the State Road 135 corridor in White River Township.  The township’s fire department is also on the hunt.  The district plans to purchase nearly an acre of land at the northwest corner of State Road 135 and Olive Branch Road, with plans to eventually build a fire station on the property, said Eric Brown, Division Chief for the fire department.  The station would be smack in the middle of suburbia:  Nice homes, businesses maybe even a Wal-Mart Supercenter would be nearby.  The Department already operates from three stations and while the long-term plans call for four stations in the district, the Olive Branch Road site likely would serve as a replacement for an older station on Runyon Rd.  The trip from the Runyon Road station to the new Super Target on State Road 135 takes four minutes.  With growth only heading south, firefighters know they need to be able to reach the scene faster.  The White River Township Fire Department responds when there is a car accident, fire or heart attack patient in one of the fastest-growing areas in the state.  A portion of the property taxes paid by homeowners and businesses in the area support the building, equipment and salary costs of the 72-fireifghter department.  Thousands of shoppers or commuters travel State Road 37 or State Road 135 every day, yet none support the department with tax dollars.  The department’s fire protection district board this year sought approval from the state for a more than $1 million loan to pay for equipment and land purchases, and $265,000 is earmarked for land purchase.  The debt is repaid through tax dollars.  The Allen Commercial Group owns the property.  While the fire department serves most of White River Township, fire protection is not the responsibility of the township trustee, as it is in most other unincorporated townships.  Instead, a fire protection district board makes decisions about financing and purchases and hires the chief.  The Department already operates out of three fire stations:  Headquarters at Smith Valley and Mullinix Roads, near State Road 37; a station off Fairview Road, just west of State Road 135; and a station on Runyon Road built in the 1950’s.  Buying land doesn’t mean the department intends to move forward with building a new station on the property, even within the next few years, Brown said.  Because the department in unable to raise enough property taxes to pay salaries for additional firefighters and utility bills for another station, no timetable has been set for when it will be built.  The fire protection district serves 35,000 residents living between County Line Road, State Road 136, Stones Crossing Road and the Johnson-Morgan County line.  Part of its coverage area overlaps Greenwood City limits.

National standards recommend that all homes be within 1.5 miles of a fire station and that firefighters aim for a three-four minute response time.  “We have a hole in our fire protection currently,” Brown said, indicating that the southeast corner of the district needed coverage from a nearby fire station, A recent station-coverage study indicated the fire department should search for land near the 135 corridor and Olive Branch Road to cover the next wave of growth.  “This is the most suitable, reasonable piece of property in that area.” Brown said.  The acre is west of a commercial subdivision proposed for the northwest intersection of Olive Branch Road and 135and east of the Heron Ridge subdivision.  Wal-Mart has discussed building a Supercenter store nearby, on 30 acres at the northeast corner of Olive Branch and 135.  The loan also included money to purchase another piece of land on which to relocate a fire station, although the property hasn’t been identified.  The department will face moving the $1.5 million headquarters built near State Road 37 because of the eventual Interstate 69 expansion from Indianapolis to Bloomington.  If the road construction doesn’t force the removal of fire headquarters, the district may consider building a fourth station.  “Open land is diminishing every day,” Brown said.   (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

 

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