The residents of Estrella in Goodyear, Arizona respectfully request the City of Goodyear prioritize funding for Fire Station 186 sooner than the current timeline.

In 2015, triggers and thresholds to communities south of Calistoga Drive - in Montecito and CantaMia - were nearly met or exceeded signalling time to build a new fire station.

• RESPONSE TIMES: 58% of the calls to homes south of the Ray Road Alignment were reportedly MORE than 8 minutes. While the city has a 30% goal for under 8 minutes, this response time pushes the trigger. Additionally, Buckeye Valley Fire District responded to 24 of these calls with a response time of 9 minutes and 58 seconds.
• 8 MINUTES IS A LONG TIME: We are told standard national response times are set at 8 minutes. When your loved one is having a heart attack or other medical emergency, 8 minutes is a long time. This is not acceptable as our community continues to grow with your approval.
• ROOFTOPS: Negotiations for the threshold for building a new fire station was reportedly, originally, with the 501st building permit south of the Ray Road Alignment. THE NUMBER OF ROOFTOPS IS WELL OVER 600 south of the Ray Road Alignment.
• MORE GROWTH: Now, the City of Goodyear is considering a PAD amendment which would expand Goodyear further north, which we feel creates more strain on fire services coming out of just one Estrella fire station.

Estrella’s 2nd fire station was to be built and fully manned by 2009, but with the downturn of the economy, the station was put on hold. We no longer want to kick this can down the road. We are told a similar GIS study through the IAFF can be done FREE OF CHARGE and completed in August... which is much sooner than one year timeline discussed in a work session.

We feel spending $65,000 of our tax monies for a study could be better spent. For example, $65,000 could buy:

• Required PPE gear for 10 new recruits. That includes hoods, gloves, helmets and eye protection.
• Roughly 30-32 pairs of "turnouts." Turnouts are the coats, pants, etc. which firefighters wear. They typically cost $2,000 a pair.
• About 14 air packs and masks.
• $65,000 could be put toward a brush truck.
• 26 high end AED Defibrillators.

We are concerned the amount of time and money to conduct a study for more fire stations in Goodyear - especially in Estrella - is unwise use of our tax dollars.

Please reconsider the timeline for building Fire Station 186.

Thank you,

Estrella Mountain Residents