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P/CLOUDY Temp: 46 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Sunday, April 20, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 4, 2003 Construction begins on new District 5 fire station By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Jackson County Fire District No. 5 has started building a $2.3 million fire station on South Pacific Highway between Talent and Phoenix. The new station at 5811 S. Pacific Highway will serve as the district’s headquarters, Chief Dan Marshall said. "The location is conducive to meeting the needs of all the areas we serve," he said. The district serves about 120 square miles of southern Jackson County, including Talent and rural areas around Ashland, Talent and Phoenix. Last year it responded to 1,400 calls for help. The new 14,500-square-foot station will include men’s and women’s dormitories, administrative offices, training and conference rooms, public meeting hall and garage space for up to eight fire and rescue vehicles. It will replace a 3,500-square-foot station built decades ago at 716 S. Pacific Highway in Talent as a volunteer station, Marshall said. The district now has 21 professional firefighters and administrators and 35 volunteers. "This station only has one bathroom and no training facilities," he said of the aging Talent building. The district plans to sell the Talent station after it moves into the new station early next year. The district also has a station south of Ashland at 40 Neil Creek Road that will remain in operation. The new station’s 6.75-acre site provides space for training towers and burn rooms where firefighters can practice dragging hoses, climbing ladders and facing fire, Marshall said. Those facilities likely would be added in phases over the next 15 years, he said. "We’re excited to get started," Marshall said. "This is quite a milestone for us." The district bought land and started planning for the new station two years ago, but plans bogged down in state land-use regulations on sewer connections. The district planned to connect the station to nearby sewer lines in Talent and got initial permission from Jackson County’s planning department in March 2002. However, a state rule prohibits buildings outside a city’s urban- growth boundary from hooking into city sewer lines. In June, the county revoked permission. The district decided to build a septic system, but the property’s soil and proximity to Bear Creek made such a system unsuitable, Marshall said. The district had to seek a land-use-planning exception to enable it to connect to Bear Creek Valley Sanitary Authority sewer lines. The months-long process required approval from county planners, county commissioners and the state. It finally was completed several months ago, Marshall said. Adroit Construction Inc. of Ashland is building the station, which was designed by Portland-based Peck Smiley Ettlin Architects. Peck Smiley Ettlin also designed the Ashland station under construction and the recently completed Eagle Point station for Jackson County Fire District No. 3, Marshall said. To finance the project, the district sold $2.5 million worth of bond-like instruments called certificates of participation, which will be repaid over 30 years from the district’s regular tax revenue. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4459, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S