Rendering of the new Tysons Fire Station-Board Agenda Item Action-5 during the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 25, for the Fall 2024 Bond Referenda for Transportation Facilities (Metro) and Public Safety approval.
On Tuesday, June 25, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Fall 2024 Bond Referenda for Transportation Facilities (Metro) and Public Safety. The two bond referenda on Nov. 5, 2024, totaling $306 million: Transportation $180 million and Public Safety $126 million, of which $56 million is for renovation/expansion of three county fire stations. Tysons Fire Station needs $25 million, Fox Mill Fire Station needs $25 million, and Oakton Fire Station needs $6 million. The police department would receive $70,000,000 to replace the Criminal Justice Academy as part of a consolidated Police Training Center.
Adoption of the resolutions requests the Circuit Court to order the referenda authorizing the issuance of such bonds. If voters approve, the proceeds of these bonds would be used for the public safety renovations and to pay $180 million for the County’s share of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Capital Improvement Program.
The county will prepare and distribute an informational pamphlet about the bonds mailed to all County households.
Looking more closely at public safety and three planned fire station projects, while there are many fire stations around Tysons Corner compared to the rest of the county, the larger replacement fire station, currently in the design phase, will have the capacity to meet future increased demand for emergency medical and fire suppression services based on anticipated population growth and high-density development in Tysons along with the challenge of “vertical response.” The fire station at Spring Hill Road remains in place, and operations can continue until the replacement station is constructed.
According to the Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition, on June 20, it hosted a discussion with Eric C. Craven, Assistant Fire Chief with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD), leading the Operations Bureau, and Laurie Stone, Planning Manager, concerning the planned relocation of an expanded Fire Station 29 to the Tysons Transit Station site on Jones Branch Drive.
Craven discussed the challenges in responding to emergencies in the highly populated area of Tysons Corner. With office buildings being converted to condos and apartments to make the best use of the real estate, Craven said FCFRD is “struggling.” He explained that the agency allocates resources and provides "vertical response time" in addition to responding to Tyson's traffic laterally during crises. They must account for that delayed response rollout time to go vertical, meaning up the buildings.
”We need to get to the person in need within four to six minutes. We're taking into account the fact that they're on the fourth floor of a high rise in their apartment to make sure that we have positioned enough resources locally,” Craven said.