The handful of community neighbors who showed up at the recent Queen Anne Community Council wanted to communicate one central message: "Fire Station 20 does not belong here."
Though not much time was devoted to the ongoing issue by City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, he urged those in the room to "call me out on it," after chairwoman Ellen Conrad expressed the shared opinion that the City Council has ignored citizen groups' input regarding Fire Station 20.
"Are we looking seriously at other sites or not?" Harrell responded. "I don't like double-talk. I'll always push it when you want me to push it."
The debate over Fire Station 20 started when the city began considering its relocation. According to Ross Budden, one of the Concerned Neighbors of Fire Station 20, when neighbors discovered the station has the third-slowest response time in Seattle they opted for one of the location changes supported by EnviroIssues-an independent consulting firm that initially evaluated 42 possible sites.
The top three presented to the city were rejected, and concerned neighbors as well as the council contend the city is neglecting the advice of the independent consulting firm by pushing for the expansion of the station instead-an expansion that would mean the potential loss of three houses.
Budden, who has lived across the street from the station for more than 30 years, said, "[The city says] this is the right place to have it, but they've done little to prove this really is the right place. They're completely disregarding the independent consultant."
The issue has particularly frustrated community members who claim City Councilmember Tim Burgess flip-flopped his stance on the fire station-first supporting the community's desire to relocate the station to one of those approved by the independent firm, and now supporting the expansion of its current location.
Though, according to Budden, Burgess now says "he's been looking into seriously considering some other sites." Budden thinks the city may now consider the adjusted top-five sites given by EnviroIssues.
The city's actions were considered and questioned again at the Magnolia District Council Meeting late Monday evening, at which time councilmember Burgess presented his thoughts.
Apart from concerns over Fire Station 20, Harrell addressed concerns over the Mercer Corridor Project, community workshops for gang prevention and the upcoming digital-TV switch, which had some council members predicting citywide panic.
Parks chair Don Harper also informed the council of the newest plans for urban development of Bell Street into a "green" street.
"One way to think of this is it's an experiment; it'll be great if it works," Harper said, "and it could work out very well."
Additionally, the Queen Anne Farmers Market will start in June again, though its scale remains undetermined.[[In-content Ad]]
