HomeMy WebLinkAbout06A Central Fire Station
City Council
Action Request Form
Meeting Date
7/20/2016
Department
Community Development
Agenda Category
Presentations
Title
Presentation on Central Fire Station – Wold Architects & Engineers
Staff Recommendation
Detailed Staff Recommendation
Budget Implication
N/A
Attachments
Communications Plan
Cottage Grove Central Fire Station
Communication Plan
Purpose
The purpose of the Communication Plan is to capture how communications will be managed
throughout the project life cycle.
The plan will cover preconstruction and construction.
The plan is intended to be used as a guide to effectively communicate about the Cottage Grove
Central Fire Station project. Changes and updates will be made as needed over the course of
the project.
Project Summary
Fire Station 2 was built in 1972 as the Cottage Grove community faced rapid growth and was
expanding east from highway 61. The Station was expanded in 1985. Almost 30 years later it
no longer supports the service model provided to the citizens of South Washington County.
The station is outdated and does not adequately support 24/7 staffing and operations in use
today.
Over the years, Cottage Grove has evolved from paid on-call firefighters responding from home
24 hours a day, seven days a week to a combination department that has full-time and part-
time (paid on-call) personnel. Scheduled personnel are housed at Station 2 primarily for
medical emergencies with fire calls utilizing both scheduled on-duty and paid on-call personnel.
For medical emergencies a duty crew response system is used where Firefighters EMTs and
Paramedics scheduled around the clock respond immediately from Fire Station 2. In order to
maintain the excellent delivery of fire and emergency medical services provided to the
community, Fire Station 2 is being replaced with a central fire station.
Fire Station 1, located on Grange Blvd., and Fire Station 3 in East Cottage Grove will be
consolidated. Fire Station 4, located on 95th Street and Jamaica Avenue, will remain in service
in order to serve the industrial park. Since 2011, fire personnel have efficiently responded out
of one centrally located facility covering all areas of the City so consolidating stations 1 and 3
will not change the level of service or response times.
The construction of a central fire station will serve current and future needs of South
Washington County communities of Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Newport and Grey Cloud
Island Township for the many years to come.
Goals and Objectives
To provide timely and accurate information about this project.
1 | Central Fire Station Communicaton Plan July 14, 2016
Audience
External: Cottage Grove residents; Residents who live neighborhoods where
construction activity will take place; Elected officials (state, county, city); City
Commission members; School district; Seniors; Seniors living at senior housing; Business
community (owners, employees); Chamber of Commerce board members; Parks and
trails users; visitors to the community who travel on 80th Street; Members of Church of
St. Rita
Internal: Fire, EMS and Police personnel; City staff
Messages
Key messages for this project are developed by the Core Group. The guiding principles as
outlined by the Core Group:
The facility should make a statement of pride, stability, success, strength and service to
the community.
The facility should be user friendly and welcoming to the community by providing
potential community space including meeting rooms and indoor/outdoor gathering
spaces.
The facility should display and reflect the history of the Fire Department in the
community.
The facility meets public safety needs for today and 15-20 years into the future.
The facility should be integrated with its surrounding environment and implement
sustainable approaches with a focus on energy savings in the long term.
Communication Tools
WOLD will create a consistent look (color, font, etc.) that will be used on all communication
pieces.
This is a list of the tools available to communicate about the project.
Electronic
The City of Cottage Grove website; a project page will be created for the Central
o
Fire Station project.
An e-newsletter will be developed; people can sign up for periodic updates on
o
the project
Internal staff newsletter
o
2 | Central Fire Station Communicaton Plan July 14, 2016
Social Media
City Facebook pages; City of Cottage Grove, Fire Department and Police
o
Department. Facebook Live can be used for special events or to broadcast
milestone events.
Twitter; City of Cottage Grove @cottagegrovemn. Updates to the Fire
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Department Facebook page are set to automatically go out via Twitter.
Instagram; City of Cottage Grove @cottagegrovemn. This is a picture based
o
communication tool. Use this to give behind the scenes look at the project.
SWCTC Cable; Regular updates on SWCTC programs via the Spotlight News and
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Public Safety Updates.
YouTube; Videos produced by SWCTC are uploaded to the City’s YouTube
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account.
Communications will work with Core Group to develop a #hashtag for the
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project
Print
City newsletter; sent out monthly
o
Fast Fact Sheet; A FAQ sheet will be created and posted on the website that can
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be downloaded; have printed copies available at City Hall, Fire Station, possibly
library
Presentation boards at open houses and community events (such as the Fire
o
Department Open House); On display at City Hall
Direct mailing (letters, postcards) if needed
o
Earned Media
News releases will be sent out when appropriate to papers (Bulletin, Pioneer
o
Press, Star Tribune), radio stations and television stations. Media alerts will be
sent to television stations for large, visual milestones
Outreach and Events
Fire Department Open House held in October.
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Neighborhood meetings as needed
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Strawberry Fest summer 2017
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Public Works Open House fall 2017
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Other community events will be identified as the project is underway
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Council and Commission Meetings
Regular updates will be provided to council
o
Updates to Commissions by Council liaison
o
Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce
Verbal updates at monthly Board meetings
o
Other
Electronic reader board at Ice Arena
o
Time-lapse camera to document the construction process
o
3 | Central Fire Station Communicaton Plan July 14, 2016
Create a way to solicit potential items to include in a time capsule
o
Timeline
A project communication plan timeline will be developed by communications coordinator with
input from the Core Group.
The Central Fire Station project timeline as of July 7, 2016:
Design: June 2016 to January 2017
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Bid: February 2017
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Award contract: March 2017
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Construction begins: April 2017
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Completed construction: March 2018
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Challenges
Some challenges may occur as we communicate about this project.
Closure of Fire Station 1: The closure of Fire Station 1 will be very visible, especially to
the east side of the community. Communication will take place to help the community
understand that the closure of this station will not affect response times.
Communication regarding response times has already taken place:
Newsletter article May 2016
o
Bulletin article “Time for an Upgrade: Cottage Grove Advances Plans for New Fire
o
Station” dated May 25, 2016
Public Safety Update by Public Safety Director Woolery
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Cost: Communication will take place to help the community understand the cost of the
project.
Evaluation
Web trends: Hits to the project page on the website will be tracked
Positive comments: While these may be anecdotal, positive comments indicate the
community has heard about the project and understands the need for the construction
of the Central Fire Station
4 | Central Fire Station Communicaton Plan July 14, 2016