The Chief expressed thanks to County Administrators: Janet Pell of General Services and Kathy Mac Neil of Architectural Services. He thanked the Architectural firm of RRM. He thanked local firm, Rarig Construction for their work that is “on time and on budget.” He thanked the Creston Advisory Body for representing the community’s input in the design of the Station. He acknowledged the hard work and dedication to the community of the volunteer firefighters. Lastly “and most importantly”, Chief Lewin thanked the community. He said, “a fire station is an essential part of the community. Like the Post Office or a school the fire station defines the community. This is the Creston community, this is the Creston Fire Station. It is your fire station. It is here for you. Community participation and support of this fire station is why we are all here.”

Following addresses by Vic Montgomery of RRM Design, Sheriff Parkinson, Sheila Lyons of the Creston Advisory Body and Supervisor Patterson the ceremony attendees moved outside to the front of the Station. A piping (bagpipe), flag raising, ribbon cutting and plaque unveiling concluded the dedication.

Rosie conducted a briefing Thursday evening , March 1st, to discuss the many and varied purposes that the kitchen will be used for. It was decided that a commercial kitchen would best suit the needs of the community. At the meeting Rosie introduced her tactical advisor, Bruce Breault, Partner and CEO of F.McLintocks restaurants in Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles. Creston resident and activist, Ann Spencer suggested enlisting Bruce’s help. Bruce is a Creston resident and has assisted the Community Church with the design and outfitting of the new kitchen in the Sanctuary. He has been a sponsor of the Creston Classic Rodeo for many years. When informed that we could not afford to outfit the kitchen in phase 1 of the project, he said there were many options available for commercial grade USED appliances and fixtures. He told Rosie that with the current state of the economy, we could go down to Los Angeles and come back with a truckload filled with everything we need for pennies on the dollar.

Architect for the project, Nick Gilman, is presently producing the working plans for the Community Center. When Rosie and her team have completed the kitchen plan, Nick will incorporate it in the working plans. At that point we can submit the plans and studies to the Planning and Building Deptartment. Consecutively, we can request proposals from contractors.

We were shown the Captain’s office, a Sheriff’s interview room, the IT/Communications room with wires dangling from the walls and ceiling that will eventually connect the Station radios, phones and computers. Matt Jauregue, the Emergency Plan Center Chief said, “the County has done a really great job in the technical part of wiring all of our fire stations. It gives us a lot of flexibility. We will be using the County standards with 2 to 3 wireless access points within the building.” We saw a laundry area, the kitchen, four bedrooms and a dayroom that will include an entertainment center. The indoor part of the tour concluded with what will be a carpeted training room with outside access and restrooms that will be available to the community for group meetings.

The outside tour included a 30,000 gallon water storage tank that Kathy Mac Neill, from County Architectural Services, said cost about $50,000, installed. In conjunction with the tank there is a huge fire pump for pressurizing the Station’s sprinkler system. Sheila Lyons asked whether the station would have any photovoltaic panels. Deputy Chief Swan said, “not yet but we are trying to get at least some included in the budget, Fifth District Supervisor, Jim Patterson said “if there is money left, they are hoping to put a system in and that the panels would be located behind the station over the leech field.” We viewed the Landscape Plan, prepared by San Luis Obispo, RRM Design Group. Supervisor Patterson, who has recruited the Creston Garden Club to plant some trees, said he would like to take advantage of the bare root season. Rick Swan said that the Rarrig Construction contract ends February 23rd and that does not include any change list items or certain other county projects. He estimated that mid April would be a reasonable time for completion. He said that a letter requesting authorization for occupancy needed to be signed off by the Board of Supervisors. “Once that is done, then we can actually move in.”, he said.

So, it looks like the old Fire Station will be available for renovation in April, provided that CATCH has secured a ground lease for the property and a permit for the project has been issued. These items are moving through the proper channels and are expected to be in hand by the time of ground breaking for the new Creston Community Center.

CATCH will be holding a meeting in the later part of January. The main purpose for this meeting is to finalize the plans for the new Creston Community Center. At the meeting the representatives of each community organization will bring any additional ideas or suggestions from their membership to the table. Any comments posted on the Roundup will also be included. Based on all input concerning the project up until the meeting, CATCH will reach a consensus and give the architect for the project the go ahead to draw up the working plans for the center. Anyone unable to attend the CAB meeting and would like to provide input regarding the center should do so either in comments on this blog or by contacting their CATCH representative (see list below).

Assembly Bill (AB)x1 29, passed by a majority vote and approved July 7, 2011, allows for the imposition of a fire prevention fee of up to $150 per habitable dwelling in those areas where CAL FIRE has the primary duty for wildland fire prevention and suppression. (NOTE! Creston Representative, Katcho Achadjian voted against this bill). State Senator, Sam Blakeslee said of the bill, “It’s most likely illegal.” and “ It’s very probable that the courts will side with taxpayers who are bringing forth lawsuits that will challenge the constitutionality.” California’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted November. 9, 2011  to levy the fee. The State Board of Equalization will issue bills for the fee in 2012, retroactive back to July 1, 2011.

I have read the bill and you may also (see below). It is my conclusion that the tax (“fee”) collected will not be used to offset the cuts in manpower, equipment and therefore, fire protection and suppression. The money will, instead, be used only for fire prevention activities such as, grants; inspections; public education; mapping and other fire prevention projects authorized by the board. I agree with Senator Blakeslee’s comment about the constitutionality of the bill. The fees are really a tax and under state law, a tax requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for approval.

Property owners will have 30 days to pay the fee and, if late, will be penalized at 20 percent per month. Property owners who believe they are being unfairly charged can petition a bill within 30 days of receiving it. To read the full text of Assembly Bill (AB)x1 29, including the process of appeal, go to:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120121AB29&search_keywords=%22fire+prevention+fee%22

Not everyone can look at a set of plans and elevations and get an idea of how those two-dimensional drawings will actually look in three dimensions. Below, I have picked, what I think to be, the best vantage point for a perspective view to give a sense of what the proposed Pavilion, relocated roll up doors and glazed entryways will look like. Also, this view shows the relationship between the kitchen and the outdoor use area. The existing roll up door, on the Kitchen/Storage Area, can be used as a pass through (see floor plan and elevations in previous post).

So, where will the kitchen be located in relation to both indoor and outdoor activities? Looking at the floor plan below, notice that the functions of a kitchen and storage of tables and chairs have been combined. The concept here is that if an event will require use of the kitchen, it will also require tables and chairs. So, the tables and chairs that are stored on carts are wheeled out and set up wherever they are needed. Now, you have this nice big kitchen, where people are less likely to be bumping into each other during food preparation and clean up.

Looking at the floor plan below, notice that the direction of expansion has changed from Southwest to Northwest. The concept involved here is that the Community Garden lies to the Northwest and expansion in that direction will bring the two areas closer together.

The proposed roofline of the expansion is a single gabled roof that wraps around three sides of the existing fire house. It is the same pitch as the existing roof and serves as the roof for the new restrooms, new kitchen/storage, outdoor pavilion and South wall solar overhang.

Relocating the existing roll up doors to the Northwest wall will open the interior space of the main room to the, pole barn like, covered outdoor pavilion. The late afternoon sun will be blocked by deciduous trees in the summer while allowing it through in the winter. There is already a roll up door on the existing storage/fire truck structure. This will facilitate ease of moving the carts/bar on wheels, etc, in and out of the kitchen and will also serve as a pass through to the pavilion.

The Southwest facing wall, where the existing roll up doors are, can be used to our advantage. Glazed wall and entryways will allow the interior of the Community Center to be warmed by the lower path of the sun in the winter. In the summer the projecting overhang will shade the wall from the intense rays of the sun.

This is my opinion: After all the years of fundraising efforts, the Creston residents deserve a Community Center that we can be proud of. We can do an add-on here, slap a shed roof there and tack this & that all over the outside of the existing structure or we can keep all of the improvements neatly under one roof. We can settle for less or we can build an aesthetically pleasing facility that will also meet the needs of the community.

In this side by side comparison, each layout will be examined to aid in your decision. First on the list is cost. The add-on kitchen will be approximately $15,000 more. The second item is space. The add-on will allow for greater occupancy in the main room. Third, is functionality. The add-on provides easy access to and from the outside. The layout inside provides a built-in bar. Both layouts provide, essentially, the same counter workspace. The location of the appliances in either layout can be rearranged, so don’t let that influence your decision. Focus on the concept of each and how they meet the needs of the community. There is a plan to double the floor space of the main room in Phase 2 of the project but that will not take place for quite a while. If you have suggestions concerning the kitchen, please include them in a comment.

Due to insufficient community input at the  presentation, a survey will be posted on the blog to solicit more input. You can also post a comment now to make a suggestion. Please, tell your neighbors about this opportunity to participate in the design process. Let’s all join in making our Community Center a big success!