Fire station near Gentry proposed

— A new fire station is under consideration to serve some residents of rural Benton County near Gentry.

Fire Chief Vester Cripps presented plans for a rural fire station for the Gentry Fire Department to Benton County planning officials on Nov. 23. The county's Development Review Committee works with projects before they are sent to the county's Planning Board, answering questions and detailing the information needed to proceed through the planning process.

"This is part of a big-picture plan Benton County established several years ago," Cripps told the planning staff. "The county is trying to get a station in areas that are now beyond five road miles from the nearest fire station."

Taylor Reamer with the Planning Department told Cripps the Planning Board will need a site plan showing the placement of the building, the setbacks from the sides of the parcel and the street, the location of driveways and any exterior lighting planned for the building.

Marc Trollinger, fire marshal, asked that the process be expedited, as the new building is a public safety issue.

"I'd like to see the process streamlined as far as possible, since this is for the public good," Trollinger said.

The project should proceed to the Planning Board with an anticipated decision date of Jan. 4, Reamer said.

Cripps said the new station is planned for land at 23115 Cripps Road near Gentry. He said the planned 40-foot by 50-foot building would house three fire trucks -- one brush truck, one pumper truck and one water tender truck.

"We have 20 vehicles in the Gentry Fire Department fleet, so we already have more than enough trucks to slide a couple out to that building when it's completed," Cripps said.

This would be the second rural fire station for the Gentry Fire Department, which has a full-time chief, one part-time employee and 24 volunteers to cover an area of about 55 square miles, Cripps said.

Cripps said the new station will directly benefit at least 60 residents whose homes are in an area now considered unprotected by the Insurance Service Office, which provides ratings for fire insurance. With the opening of the new station, the ISO rating for those residences will drop from 10 to 6 on the ISO scale, Cripps said, which in turn is likely to decrease residents' home insurance rates.

"The savings on their insurance will depend on the residence, but it will be significant," Cripps said.

General News on 11/30/2016