According to a report from Marin Independent Journal, the town of Ross, California, will no longer have a fire station after a $14.6 million plan to renovate the town’s government buildings passed unanimously through the town council on Thursday, March 11.
The plan calls for demolishing the aging town headquarters on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and rebuilding the administrative offices, police station, and ambulance center. Left out of the plan was a potential renovation of the fire station, which is part of the existing complex, after a December 2020 survey of town residents showed they were not willing to pay willing the additional $13.8 million it would take to keep the fire station.
The 93-year-old government buildings are in such poor shape that it would cost less to rebuild than remodel them. The town will seek a bond measure to pay for the new center.
Early estimates for the entire complex rebuild are about $28.4 million. However, the cost would be nearly half that if the town forgoes the fire station.
Ross shares its firefighting services with Fairfax, San Anselmo, and Sleepy Hollow through the Ross Valley (CA) Fire Department (RVFD), which has a station in each of those areas.
Without a fire station in Ross, firefighters responding to the town’s service calls will deploy from the San Anselmo station, which is 1.1 miles from Ross Town Hall, or from the Kentfield station, which is 0.7 miles away, according to RVFD Chief Jason Weber.
