PUBLIC SAFETY: Final design for $9.5 million MB Fire Station #2 approved

A rendering of the new Fire Station #2 on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, which is expected to be completed by 2023. Courtesy City of Manhattan Beach

by Mark McDermott 

The City Council on Tuesday night approved the final design for a new Fire Station #2, a $9.5 million project expected to be completed by 2023. 

The existing Fire Station #2, located at 1400 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, was constructed in 1954. Senior engineer Mamerto Estepa Jr. told the council that the building has numerous deficiencies, including the fact that it is not earthquake-proof, has no changing areas or even bathrooms for female firefighters, is not large enough to fit modern fire apparatus that are not customized to fit within its bay doors, includes no ventilation or extractor systems to help make living quarters safe from the often toxic particles collected on firefighter turnout gear and fire apparatus, and no shop area to work on firefighting apparatus and other equipment. 

“The project replaces an outdated facility that is inadequate for operating and running a modern fire department,” he said. “In examining the state of the existing Fire Station Number #2, we know that the facility is over 66 years old, it is around 3,300 square feet, and it’s reached the end of its useful life.” 

The new, fully modernized fire station will be almost three times as large, at 9,116 square feet, and address every one of the previous station’s deficiencies. It will also include a dedicated administrative space for all firefighters on shift to perform their administrative duties.

Councilperson Steve Napolitano, who made the motion to approve the new fire station, said that building the new facility is “one of the unsexy things that are very necessary” for the city to address. 

“There are lots of issues with our Fire Station #2 that have been a matter of record for some time now,” Napolitano said. “For years, actually. And this has been deferred and delayed. The longer we defer and delay it’s just going to get more expensive, and the need is going to be just as great as it ever was. So I think we should pull the trigger on it, and move forward on it.” 

The council has worked to move this project forward since 2017, when Fire Station #2 was prioritized through a needs assessment and feasibility study. In 2018, the Council took $540,000 from the city’s General Fund to help expedite the design phase of the new station, which cost $777,441 in total. The total cost of $9.5 million includes $275,000 for the construction of a temporary Fire Station #2 on North Peck Avenue, across from Begg Pool —  the same site used for a temporary station when the main police and fire facility was constructed in the early 2000s —  and $1.1 in construction contingency funds. The estimated construction cost for the demolition and new construction of the new Fire Station No. 2 building is $7.35 million.

The Council took another action Tuesday night, the final approval of the issuance of Pension Obligation Bonds (POBs), that it hopes will contribute to the financing of the new station. The station itself will be funded through the sale of tax-exempt Certificates of Participation (COPs). Both financial mechanisms seek to take advantage of historically low interest rates. The POBs, which essentially refinance pension costs owed to CalPERS, are projected to save the city between $1.1 million and $4.4 million annually over the next 10 years; the debt service on the COPs is projected at $454,000 annually, and if bids come in lower than expected, the city intends to repay its General Fund for design costs. 

Rudy Meija, the president of the Manhattan Beach Firefighters Association, praised the council’s action. 

“Your Manhattan Beach firefighters are happy that Council has decided to invest in rebuilding Fire Station #2, which has been an essential building faithfully serving the east side of Manhattan Beach since 1954,” Meija said. “The new station will allow our fire department to accommodate the growing needs of our community with modern-day fire and EMS service.  Our Paramedic Engine #22 will continue to serve the east side of our community with great care and pride.” 

Councilperson Richard Montgomery said the timing was right to build the new fire station. 

“This has been a long time coming, and one of the reasons why is we did this the right way,” Montgomery said. “But someone sent me a note the other day, and it said, ‘These are the men, and maybe women in the future, that keep us all safe. Why wouldn’t we build them a new station to keep them safe?’” 

Montgomery then seconded Napolitano’s motion, which passed unanimously. Construction is expected to begin in October. ER 

 

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