By George Slaughter
First of a three-part series
After unwanted delays, the City of Katy is proceeding with its plans to develop a second fire station, this one south of I-10.
The new station will be built at Bell Patna Drive and Katy Mills Circle, near Katy Mills Mall. It will be a three-bay, approximately 14,000 square-foot structure. City officials have been planning it for years.
The site was the second choice. The original site was on the south side of Kingsland Boulevard and west of Pin Oak Road. It flooded in April 2016, when 12-17 inches of rain poured over the Katy area. City officials became concerned about the site’s viability after the flood, and decided on the Bell Patna and Katy Mills Circle site. Besides the better location, the new site also has infrastructure items such as power, water and sewer lines that are already in place for easier station construction.
In May, the Katy City Council authorized then-Mayor Fabol Hughes to enter into an agreement with Slattery Tackett Architects, LLP, of Houston, for the design of the new station.
Fire Chief Russell Wilson said when he reviewed the plan last year he insisted on two basic changes, both of which will be incorporated.
The first change involves the orientation of the station. When the station gets built, emergency vehicles will come out of the bay and onto Bell Patna Drive, which Wilson said would be safer than if they were to come out on Katy Mills Circle, which was the original plan.
The second change involves the locker rooms. Instead of one large room, Wilson said several smaller rooms are being built so the men and women firefighters have separate areas to change clothes.
Mayor Chuck Brawner said the city is looking at a September-October time frame for the final engineering and pricing to be completed. Assuming everything is in order and the city council gives a quick approval,
Brawner said the groundbreaking for the new station could be in November, with the station possibly being completed by November or December 2018.
Staffing the New Station
Building the fire station is one thing. Staffing it is another. The city has applied for a SAFER (for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
According to the FEMA web site, SAFER was “created to funding directly to five departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained “front line” firefighters available in their communities.”
The grant request was for approximately $2 million. Wilson said he expects a response from FEMA next month.
Covering the Area in the Interim
While officials are working to develop the new station, Wilson said a misperception exists about fire department coverage in the area south of I-10. The fire department has memorandums of agreements with other governmental entities, such as Harris County Emergency Services District (ESD) 48, for mutual support in emergencies.
The district has stations at 22855 Franz Road, 21201 Morton Road, 23520 Kingsland Blvd., and 1773 Westgreen Blvd.
The Westgreen Boulevard facility opened in December and is a temporary one. According to the district’s web site, the district will build a long-term facility in this area, which is near I-10 and State Highway 99.
Another station is planned for Porter Road.