If the fire district were to be approved, a new station might be built along A1A somewhere between the town of Gulf Stream and Woolbright Road in Ocean Ridge. One proposed location is in Briny Breezes between Gulfstream Texaco and Hampton Real Estate.
Renderings by Bridges March & Associates Inc.
By Dan Moffett
A barrier island fire district is many months and many political battles away from becoming a reality — if it ever happens at all.
But one thing is already clear. At least a feasibility study is feasible.
Representatives from the coalition of coastal municipalities interested in the fire district idea met in Gulf Stream on Oct. 30 to open bids from consultants who are interested in studying it. And all of the four proposals submitted came in well under the $100,000 price limit the six towns were looking for.
Matrix Consulting Group of Keller, Texas, was the low bidder at $39,000, and also ranked highest in the overall rating system the representatives used. Gulf Stream Town Manager William Thrasher said that cost had little to do with the decision, accounting for only 15 percent of the factors the town representatives considered.
“It’s ironic, really, because much more than money went into the ratings,” Thrasher said. “We looked at many factors.”
Ranking second was Fitch and Associates of Platte City, Mo., with a bid of $48,600, followed by Public Safety Solutions Inc. of Chester, Md., with $68,850 and the local entry, Special District Services Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, with $70,000.
Gulf Stream Town Clerk Rita Taylor said the town representatives “were all pretty much in line with one another” during their deliberations.
The group included: Thrasher, Highland Beach Town Manager Beverly Brown, Briny Breezes Town Council President Sue Thaler and Briny corporate board member Paul Stewart, new Ocean Ridge Town Manager Jamie Titcomb and South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer. Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf, a member of the group, was absent because she was participating in a police arbitration hearing.
Thrasher said the next step is to get approval from Gulf Stream’s legal staff, and then the Town Commission at its Nov. 13 meeting. Once the feasibility study gets the go-ahead from officials, the consultants will have 90 days to study the six towns — Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and South Palm Beach — and report back to the coalition.
“I’d like everyone, all the towns, to contribute something,” Thrasher said of sharing the study’s cost. “But I don’t think money is going to be a problem for us with this.”
The six municipalities total roughly 100,000 residents and currently pay for their fire-rescue services from Palm Beach County, Boynton Beach or Delray Beach. But the providers on the mainland have steadily charged more over the last decade, and Boynton Beach and Delray Beach have considered consolidating their departments with the county’s — a move that would cause significant problems in Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge.
Thrasher thinks that for the fire district to work, the towns would have to build a fire station in Briny Breezes and overhaul the maintenance building in the lot behind the Ocean Ridge Town Hall. He said Palm Beach architect Mark Marsh believes the most favorable place for the Briny station is in the storage lot on A1A across from the entrance to Tropical Drive.
Gulf Stream Vice Mayor Robert Ganger, a supporter of the fire district study, said Thrasher deserves praise for getting the coalition together and bringing the idea forward.
“It took some courage for Bill to go forward with this and get all these communities onboard,” Ganger said. “He put his credibility on the line. But this is something we have got to look at.”
Comments