Rendering of Sedona Fire Station 6
Sedona AZ (June 30, 2013) – The Sedona Fire District Board asked that the SedonaEye.com post this invitation to the groundbreaking ceremony for its Fire Station #6 in the Sedona Chapel area.
We thank Abraham Koniarsky and Karen Schmitt for their help in providing the information:
You’re Invited to the Sedona Fire District
Fire Station No. 6 Groundbreaking Ceremony
Date: Friday, July 12, 2013
Time: 9:00 AM—Continental Breakfast * 9:30 AM—Ceremony
Location: Construction Site on State Highway 179 Between Chapel Road and Meadowlark Drive, Sedona AZ
Please join our celebration as we proudly begin construction on Fire Station No. 6 to enhance our response capabilities for the entire Sedona Fire District.
* Breakfast graciously provided by the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley (JCSVV) will be served at the synagogue. Parking available at JCSVV with overflow at Christ Lutheran Church.
RSVP— appreciated but not mandatory—to Tricia Greer, SFD Executive Assistant, at 928-204-8909 by Wednesday, July 10, 2013.
For the best in Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!
Good morning all!
One does not always have a lot to show for their hard work, dedication, and financial support on any project. Those of you who have been involved since the beginning, know that this effort, in particular, was a complex, uphill climb.
This groundbreaking marks our “reward.” When the first Ambulance leaves a completed Station 6, our community will have much dramatically better coverage of certain areas, and improved coverage/backup of the rest.
Please join us on July 12!
As my tax bill for the fire department keeps jumping that will be celebrating enough for me.
The low bid for Station 6 in the Chapel area came in at $1,944,000.
However, that was just the “base” bid. It did not include a number of significant additional costs which should be included so taxpayers will understand the full price they’ll be paying for this new station.
In addition to that base bid, there are a number of “additives” (upgrades) which have been recommended by Fire Chief Kris Kazian. They total $201,700.
The base bid plus additives comes to $2,145,700.
This new station will need antennas, telecommunication gear and computer equipment at a cost of $208,000.
Architectural fees, including the original station design, redrawing expense and construction administration will be at least $398,233.
Interest on the proposed $2,250,000 loan to build the station is $343,444.
A 6 percent contingency fund is included, which amounts to $128,742.
Add all this of this up, and we’re looking at $3,224,119.
If we include the land SFD bought back in 2007 for $640,000, we have a grand total of $3,864,119 which will be spent on Fire Station 6.
Additionally, the FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment) package has not been included. This could range between 25 percent to 30 percent of the construction costs. On this project, that might mean another $536,425 to $643,710.
Let’s be optimistic and knock the FF&E down to 20 percent. That’s still another $429,140.
Finally, SFD has never submitted an annual operational costs estimate for Fire Station 6 so the taxpayers still don’t know what they’ll be paying every year to run the place.
When Chief Kazian came to Sedona he used the scenario to describe SFD as “Slim Jay” from the TV show Biggest Loser. Well guess what, Jay is once again obese. With this Fire Board as an enabler he is consuming calories at an unbelievable speed. The real shame is his calories are YOUR TAX DOLLARS!
Sedona Fire District held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Fire Station No. 6 in the Chapel area of Sedona on Friday, July 12, beginning at 9:00 am with breakfast graciously donated by the construction site’s neighbor, the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley (JCSVV).
More than 100 people attended the ceremony hearing speeches from Fire Chief Kris Kazian, Mayor Rob Adams, Architect Lawrence Enyart, Dan Fontana of Danson Construction, JCSVV President Annette Lustgarten and Pastor David Brandfass of the site neighbor, Christ Lutheran Church.
Former Fire Board Members, as well as members of two citizen advisory committees which had recommended building this station, also attended along with dignitaries from local government and community service organizations.
Mrs. Erick;
I’m surprised that you and Mr. Dible haven’t gotten tired of spewing negative energy with skewed facts and figures about the SFD!
When you say:
“Additionally, the FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment) package has not been included”.
I must ask you Mrs. Erick, what would you expect the fire district to use for furniture, fixtures and equipment? Perhaps they should just buy a bunch of milk boxes and stack them together as desks and chairs and whatever else is needed.
When you say that “This could range between 25 percent to 30 percent of the construction costs”.
As web viewer of the SFD board meetings, I have never heard Chief Kazian ever mention the costs of the FF&E’s so where did you come up with those figures?
But, in all honesty, I don’t really care either. I was one of those who voted you and the other people out. If the Fire Chief decides that we need a desk, I’m guessing that we need a desk. I’m sure that he’ll be responsible enough to buy it at a good price. He has a proven track record of being very responsible with our money.
Your rant on this respected web site just goes to show that you still “DON’T GET IT”. We desperately need a fire station and with the good guidance of the current Fire Board and Fire Chief we’re now building one.
Phyliss Eck!! First off, those who have seen and know you from the recalled fire board know you’re not that intelligent to come up with these facts and figures on your own!!!! Remember your job is an Appointment Scheduler with marginal personality!! Unless scwolling is a personality trait!!! The only halfwit who thinks he is smart enough to come up with this compiled misinformation is your partner in deceit and hate, Diable!!! You remember the coward who was appointed to the fireboard by you and the other recalled members!!! You know the guy who endlessly collects data then curve fits it with a sprinkle of lies and deceit to further his and your agenda!!! Come on Eck, it’s a little early for BS!!!
Even all the negativity and bitterness of former recalled board members (P Erick and her ghost writer, C. Dible, in this case) can overcome the awesome- ness of the citizens who were instrumental in finally getting this desperately needed station built! It feels like a miracle, that after seven years, five fire chiefs, two citizen committees, a recall of three board members and the election of three board members with no agenda except to serve the needs of the District, Station 6 is going to be a reality. And who knows? It may even save the lives or property of one of those individuals who tried to stand in its way.
BTW, I dislike even getting into this petty tit-for-tat with the nay-sayers, but we have yet to see an increase in our tax bills! You ex-board members also know that increases were inevitable eventually, or we would have lost 25 Sedona Fire District employees and possibly had to close stations? Remember? That’s why you drove Chief Hazime to resign. Because he laid it on the line and told Sedona residents the truth. You were living in la la land, if you think you can have our first class service and not be willing to pay for it. The majority wins in a democracy, Ms. Erick and Mr. Dible.
Phyllis and Craig,
What you fail to understand is that if you and your co-conspirators had any common sense and a real desire to do what was best for the SFD community, you would have supported the original plan for the fire station at a SIGNIFICANT cost reduction with three bays instead of two. Shame on you!
Tom Longo
Sedona, AZ
What have we here? A new version of “let’s own a highway?”
Different twist: A new fire station will serve us well. Anyone disavowing that might review the headline news of the past couple of weeks and put things in proper perspective. What price is an additional fire station in the time of need? Very little monetarily; however the ultimate cost to families of brave firefighters who risk and lose life.
Those in disagreement might try selling Sedona voters the idea of owning a state highway again.
Respectfully, you are the ones that do not get it! It is taxpayers like you that continue to allow the fire district and their board to overtax the Sedona residents. The district continues being over budget, over staffed, and questionably over paid. You have allowed the board to raise our taxes over 46% since they took office. They have also authorize hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchase orders, without an intelligent question. And, I guarantee you next year they again will increase taxes to sustain the districts continued bad spending habits.
I know you do not agree or care about the dollar amounts. So we will not waste time discussing that. You can continue to get your information from the district. While doing that, ask the Chief what the estimated annual budget for the Chapel Station is . Maybe he will tell you as he told me ” I do not know it depends on the size of the air conditioners and so forth. No one should build a station not knowing or caring what it will cost the taxpayer for their existence in Sedona. It is irresponsible!
Rich, sorry I rattled your cage! But, because you are such a nice person, I am going to give you a couple of suggestions.
First, I have noticed your rants on this site before. May I suggest you us “spell check”, how embarrassing! People may tend to take you more seriously if they felt you had higher then an eighth grade education. Questioning someone’s intelligence and the use of the word halfwit in your case is laughable.
Second, you find it so easy to attack people personally rather than prove the facts incorrect. You call people liars and deceitful, state where. I know more than two digits is difficult for you, but prove the numbers wrong RICH!
One thing I would like to thank you for is bringing back old memories of a TV show The Beverly Hillbillies, in which Jethro aspired to be either a Brain Surgeon or a Soda Jerk. In your case it may have been a Fireman or a Soda Jerk, one and a half out of two not bad RICH!
Karen S., you bring up Chief Hazime stating we would have to close stations and let twenty-five people go, you do not seem to remember these minutes after he made that statement:
Mr. Dible said this resulted from comments made at the last meeting about cutting personnel; he said he had a candid and productive conversation with Chief Hazime on Friday, and believes they have agreed to be careful with what we say, and try to avoid those kinds of charges because they distract from the mission at hand. As he said at the earlier budget meeting, we are all in this together and have homes and families in Sedona, and all must bring down costs without affecting service levels. Chief Hazime said the last thing he wants to do is disrupt the Board and community; he wants to keep harmony with everyone, but the reason he made the comments is that the “bottom line” budget figure given at that meeting, without the ability to raise the mil rate or use any of SFD’s $5 million in reserves, will be extremely challenging, and it would mean changes in services. He said saying 25 positions off the top of his head was out of line, but maintains it would affect services, whether it comes from Administration or Operations.
As for driving Chief Hazime to resign, he did that on his own. And here are minutes in where your Mr. Montgomery also voted to accept his resignation.
You mentioned a democracy, well that gives me the right to my opinion whether you like it or not!
Meeting minutes:
The Board reconvened into Public Session at 4:39 PM. Mr. Blauert asked Attorney Whiteman to address
the public. Mr. Whiteman said: the Board has been in discussions with Chief Hazime and his attorney;
Chief Hazime has resigned as Fire Chief of Sedona Fire District; the Board and Chief Hazime have
reached a mutual agreement and prepared a Letter of Intent as to the terms of the agreement. Mr.
Whiteman did not read the Letter of Intent aloud, but stated the Letter was a public record. Mr. Blauert
then entertained a motion to approve the Letter of Agreement and terms as presented by Mr. Whiteman;
Mr. Christensen so moved, Mrs. Erick seconded, and the motion unanimously passed with a vote of five
to zero
Golly Gosh ! The Monsoons are here, and Phyllis is sure throwing the mud. Get a grip woman.
Erick!, you seem to be the one with the rattled cage !! You try to hide your contempt for the Fire District and Fire personnel under the guise of a Taxpayer watchdog!! Now to add insult to injury a new firehouse is being built right next to your house, which is the only reason you tried to block it in the first place!! Selfish reasons without any concern for public safety!! Really don’t have time to debate the specifics of every lie or misinformation you ever stated, as they are plentiful and frequent!! That seems to be the way you two operate!! As such your most recent being putting your name to Dible’s letter and calculations above!! You know that you didn’t come with that on your own!
Good one about the Beverly Hillbillies, I guess maybe there is a sense of humor under all that resentment you carry!! Also I appreciate the spell check lesson!!
Here’s one for you, next time your at a fire board meeting and a firemen is being recognized for his/her service they have a performed in the form of a promotion , life saving act, or or other extraordinary event. Hide your contempt and instead of frowning try clapping your hands and show a little respect for there accompliments!! That goes for your buddy Dible as well!!
In prior communications on this very site, wasn’t it Craig Dible who repeatedly made reference to ancient sitcoms?
Recently, experts compared “writing styles” in determining J.K. Rowling’s actual authorship of a work penned under a nom de plume. Perhaps a side-by-side comparison of Dible’s prior misdirected efforts would prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, his fingerprints all over these letters, as well.
As to spellcheck… A little proofreading would go a long way in making your point, “Ms. Erick.” Though it is always very entertaining to read the misuse of language, punctuation and syntax in a letter purporting to correct someone else’s work, your attempt at superiority falls far short of any intended mark. Nice try, tho’.
Wendy Tanzer
VOC
Mrs. Erick,
I have a few questions to ask of you:
When you say “The district continues being over budget”, that is by whose standards?
I don’t think that the SFD is over budget, I believe that they have increased spending to providing our community with enhanced service, which I believe is a better value for our tax dollar. Most people would agree that to receive more or better of something, you sometimes have to spend a bit more as well.
When you say “over staffed”, how could you think that? By watching all of the meetings for the past 4 or so years, I know that staffing IS DOWN. The only hiring that was done by Chief Kazian (thankfully so) was to bring our “boots on the ground” fire fighters up to safe staffing levels and have a much needed fire inspector. Under your “reign of terror” you would have had only 1 fire fighter come out to a fire in an old broken down truck with no one to put the fire out. Remember, YOUR McGladrey Report said that 60% of all staff was actively looking to resign. (Page 211) Now, we have a list of highly qualified candidates ready to accept a job with SFD when the need arises.
When you say “questionably over paid” are you saying that as compared to your salary as a medical appointment scheduler or is that for highly trained, highly educated, highly dedicated people who are willing to risk their life for our community while you sit back and criticize?
When you say; “authorize hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchase orders, without an intelligent question”. If you have this burning question on your mind, why haven’t you brought it before the Board at a Board meeting? I love how the new board openly responds to community questions at every board meeting unlike when you were on the board. That’s real transparency! But then again, you may not like the answer because the facts are strange to you and Mr. Dible.
I think Chief Kazian does an outstanding job of simplifying many of his answers about needed (not wanted) spending to the public, sometimes overdoing it to such an extreme so that EVEN YOU can understand it.
Mrs. Erick, when you write about the Board raising our taxes over 46%, (which knowing you is highly inflated) do you think that this number would have been lower if, during your “reign of terror”, you didn’t waste over $350,000 in needless audits and unauthorized legal spending? (3/27/13 Board Minutes Page 5) I remember back to the Fire Chief Search Committee when the committee would over spend their allotted budget and your board would approve every dollar spent without concern but, you let it continue over and over again.
You must think that our community is blind to your nonsense. Perhaps it’s time for you and Mr. Dible to pull up stakes and head out of town.
Thanks for the useful info.