Board member Ed Elkins made a motion during the fire board meeting Tuesday to ask Knight to develop a summary of costs and details involved in making the sites the board toured suitable for use.
“I think it helps us make a decision that is fact-based,” Elkins said.
The fire board looked at three potential locations during Tuesday’s meeting: Minnis Road near Highway 64; land near Waterville Elementary school and the old Waterville Elementary School site. The former school site is now being used by Bradley County Fire Rescue as a training facility.
All of the sites under consideration are already owned by the county.
The land being considered for the Minnis Road location is close to Park View Elementary School on the opposite side of the street.
“The only time that there’s a lot of traffic here is in and out of school,” Fire Chief Dewey Woody said.
Woody said having a fire station at the Minnis Road location would be good because it is a three-lane road and the position would give the fire truck excellent visibility when leaving the station. Of the Minnis Road site, Woody said in terms of “Visibility for coming out of a fire station, you can’t ask for anything better than this.”
The chief said he wanted to put the station on the corner of the property so that the county would still have the land to work with in the future. Approximately 1 1/2 acres will be needed to construct the fire station.
Board member Bruce Bradford said he felt the land on Minnis Road would work well.
Based on the engineer’s input, the board will decide whether to build near the current Waterville Elementary School or the BCFR training center.
Several sections of land near Waterville Elementary School would require leveling before they could be used. Elkins asked if the mound of land on one section could possibly be used to fill in the hole on another section. Woody said this is something they would have to ask Knight. Water runoff might also be an issue with some of the areas around the school.
Woody said he had already talked with Bradley County Schools officials about having a fire station on or near the school site. They have no objections, he said.
The location near the training center would not be directly on Dalton Pike. Instead, it would face a side street at the back corner of the property with a direct line to Dalton Pike. Woody said it would be good to have a fire station near the training center to deter further vandalism to the aging structure.
No sites would require roadwork beyond a driveway to the fire station. Woody also gave the fire board a tour of the training facility.
