The Rock Township Ambulance District has spent $455,000 to buy two parcels of land – a 2.1-acre parcel near Hickory Square Parkway in Arnold and a 13.8-acre tract at the intersection of Konert and Romaine Creek roads in unincorporated Fenton.
Rock Township Chief Jerry Appleton said the district bought both properties as part of its ongoing efforts to provide better ambulance coverage.
The district plans to build new facilities on those two parcels to replace the existing House 1 in Arnold and House 2 in the Shady Valley area.
Relocating those two houses will provide more equitable coverage over the district, Appleton said.
Money for the land purchases, as well as for the upcoming building construction, will come from the $23 million bond issue district voters approved in November 2018.
“We are anxious to get this started,” Appleton said. “I think the public is going to appreciate it. And it’s going to make things safer.”
Rock Township encompasses some 108 square miles in northern Jefferson County and serves about 130,000 residents in Arnold, Imperial, Antonia, Barnhart, Kimmswick and a part of unincorporated Fenton.
The district also recently purchased two new ambulances; upgraded its heart-monitoring systems and bought new power-lift stretchers.
“All those things we promised the public before the election, we’re implementing,” Appleton said. “All of them are necessary in order to ensure we have the best equipment. Now, getting these buildings in place is going to provide better service. It will shorten wait times, and it’s just a more efficient deployment of our resources.”
Reorganizing for better coverage
Since the passage of the bond issue, Rock Township officials have overseen the sale of bonds and worked to finalize building plans in preparation for the upcoming construction projects, made necessary by the area’s booming population growth and rapidly changing demographics, Appleton said
“Nearly 70 percent of our calls are coming from the north half of the district,” he said. “Population growth is booming in Seckman Valley, (unincorporated) Fenton, lower Arnold along Tenbrook and Telegraph – as much as 60 percent growth in the last 10 years. We end up with response times being longer because the crews have to come from houses in the southern part or from other districts.”
The ambulance district has developed a long-range, comprehensive plan to address those concerns, and this first phase involves relocating House 1 and House 2.
■ House 1 was built in 1992 at Lonedell Road and Astra Way Drive in Arnold, just off Hwy. 141 across from the complex that houses the Arnold Recreation Center and the Arnold Branch of the Jefferson County Library.
It will be relocated to the parcel just off Jeffco Boulevard near Hickory Square Parkway. The district spent $130,000 to buy that property, which sits just behind the Family Video store.
■ House 2 was built in 1986 on Hwy. 21 in the Shady Valley area. It will be relocated to the property at the intersection of Konert and Romaine Creek roads that cost $325,000.
“We wanted to buy just part of that, but the owner wouldn’t parcel it for sale,” Appleton said. “But, you know, it still falls under our $500,000 budget for land acquisition, and we really think it’s an ideal location. You know the old saying: ‘They aren’t making any more land.’
“We can use it in the future for other facilities, like a storage building maybe, or we can sell it off as a whole piece or in smaller parcels and recoup the investment.”
Appleton said he hopes to have preliminary plans for the two buildings ready to present at the August board meeting.
“Construction should be started in early 2020,” he said. “We may be ready to go late this fall, if the weather holds. We’re targeting completion of both facilities by fall of 2020.” Once the new facilities are complete and the relocations finished, Appleton said the district will likely put the current House 1 and House 2 properties up for sale.
“We know we’ll sell House 2 for sure. We already have some interest in it,” he said.
“The other one? At this point, we don’t see a need to keep it, but that will be a board decision.”
Further down the road, the comprehensive plan calls for another relocation and one new house.
Those plans call for House 3, built in 1995 at 1500 Prehistoric Hill Drive in Imperial, to be relocated northward to the Telegraph Road area in Arnold.
House 4, built in 2015 at 6707 St. Luke’s Church Road in Barnhart, will continue to serve as the district’s headquarters.
Plans are to eventually add a House 5 in the Seckman Valley.
New equipment
Rock recently purchased a pair of new ambulances from Pinnacle Emergency Vehicles for $404,779.92.
“That includes the graphics, the extended warranty and three sets of tires for each one,” Appleton said. “The warranty is an eight-year, bumper-to-bumper warranty that covers something like 1,300 different components for up to 200,000 miles. That’s about the useful life of an ambulance.
“So this will reduce our maintenance costs enormously.”
The district will put the three oldest of its 12 ambulances up for bid through an online auction service called Purple Wave. The service is fee-based, but the company has agreed to waive the fee for public entities, Appleton said.
“We didn’t do so well selling on our own when we tried it before,” he said. “We actually ended up donating the last (ambulance the district tried to sell).”
Up for bid will be a 2013 ambulance with about 120,000 miles on it and a pair of 2009 trucks with more than 200,000 miles on each.
In addition to the new ambulances, the district spent $266,878 for nine new heart monitors, one for each of its ambulances. CodeStat software comes with the new heart monitors.
“That provides real-time data that can be transmitted to the hospital right from the ambulance,” Appleton said.
The district’s switch to power-lift stretchers is another upgrade that will save money in the end, he said.
“It gives us a lower insurance rating, because you’re reducing the potential for injury,” Appleton said. “And it’s better for patients, and a lot safer for crews.”