Posts Tagged planned third station for Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District

Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District news (more)

rendering of the new Barrington Countryside FPD Station 39

Artist rendering of Barrington Countryside FPD Station 39

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District broke ground in late May at 1004 S. Hough St. in an unincorporated area near the village for a new fire station. At a cost of $5 million, Fire Station 39 will be the district’s third fire station. Officials said it will allow the district to respond to more than 90% of all emergency calls in six minutes or less.

The station is slated to be funded by reserves, though there has been some discussion about possibly financing a portion of the project — all without a tax rate increase, officials said. The station also will help reduce insurance premiums for some property owners, particularly in the eastern section of the district.

thanks Danny

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Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District news (more)

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District is making a second try at building a new station that officials say is needed to improve service to the district’s east side. The proposal for a roughly 5-acre site at 1004 S. Hough St. is part of the district’s longtime desire for a third station that would benefit residents in Inverness and nearby areas. The land is in unincorporated Cook County just outside Barrington.

Before construction can occur, the fire district must go through a county approval process, starting with a zoning board of appeals online public hearing at 10 a.m. July 8. The district needs a special-use permit for the firehouse because the Hough Street land is zoned for single-family homes. The district’s tentative plan to buy the 5 acres hinges on whether the county grants the permit. The entire project could cost $3 million to $5 million.

In March 2019, the county rejected the district’s request for a special-use permit and zoning variances needed to build a new station at 36 E. Dundee Road. That plan called for converting a vacant house into a station on an acre between Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus and an early learning center. Barrington Area Unit District 220 lodged a formal objection with Cook County, citing traffic concerns and the potential for reduced property values. The fire district called the county’s rejection a setback for regional public safety. District 220 later bought the site from the fire district for $500,000.

Under the new plan, the fire district would build a 10,000-square-foot station with two bays. A flashing warning light would be installed to warn Hough Street drivers about exiting fire trucks or ambulances.

Barrington Countryside currently has two firehouses to cover its 48-square-mile territory. The district provides fire and emergency medical service to residents in portions of Barrington Hills, South Barrington, Lake Barrington and Inverness, as well as sections of unincorporated Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

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Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District news (more)

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Cook County commissioners on the county’s zoning and building committee Wednesday voted 14-0 against granting a special-use permit and zoning variances the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District needed to build a new station at 36 E. Dundee Road near a middle school and early childhood center.

Fire district officials contended that the third station would have improved ambulance response times to parts of Inverness and elsewhere. But its planned location between Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus and Barrington Area Unit District 220’s Early Learning Center drew opposition from school leaders and parents. District 220 Superintendent Brian Harris urged commissioners to vote against the plan, saying the schools never would have been built at that location had the fire station been there first. He said he hopes fire district officials instead follow a study’s recommendation indicating a need for a facility in the western part of the district.

Barrington Countryside officials released a statement calling the county board’s decision a setback for regional public safety. “It is also an overreaction to patently false information created and disseminated by a small group of individuals who seek shortsighted benefits for a select few at the expense of the long-term greater good,” the fire district said.

Barrington Countryside hoped to use the foundation of a house it bought for $500,000 in 2016 for the station. The new facility would have cost $900,000 to $1.1 million.

District 220 lodged a formal objection with Cook County, citing traffic concerns and the potential for reduced property values.

At a meeting last fall, school officials and teachers said noise from the firehouse could cause problems for the early learning center, where the most fragile children in the system are taught.

County Commissioner Kevin Morrison said his office received at least 50 calls and 70 emails against the project. Morrison said that while the county’s advisory zoning board of appeals recommended the station on the condition that no sirens be used, a site visit and feedback from both sides of the issue convinced him the project would be inappropriate.

Barrington Countryside Fire Chief James Kreher said work will resume to find another site to better serve Inverness and the eastern and southern areas of the district. District 220 has expressed interest in buying the district’s Dundee Road property, he said.

thanks Ron

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Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District news

Excerpts from the dailyherald.com:

Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District officials attended a special meeting at Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus to address concerns with the proposal for a fire station at 36 E. Dundee Road.

Barrington Area Unit District 220 officials say their concerns about the planned third station include noise disrupting learning and traffic. Elected officials will decide whether to file an objection to the plan with the Cook County zoning board of appeals. District 220 can file a formal objection regarding the fire station proposal with the Cook County zoning board of appeals starting Sept. 26. The advisory panel, which will forward a recommendation to the Cook County Board for final consideration, has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Oct. 3.

Plans call for the fire district to use the foundation of a house it bought for $500,000 in 2016 for a station handling only ambulance calls to improve response times to parts of Inverness and the overall southern coverage area. The site is between the middle school and the Barrington Early Learning Center.

$900,000 to $1.1 million would be spent to build the new station. The fire district will seek a recommendation for approval of a special-use permit and variances to build on the residential land from the county’s zoning board of appeals. Construction on the proposed new station would start in spring 2019.

The fire district wants to reduce response times from about 10 minutes to 6 minutes for Inverness and nearby areas in unincorporated Cook County. 

thanks Ron

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