COOS BAY - Perhaps the only thing more difficult than making a tough political decision is reversing it. On Tuesday, that is exactly what four Coos Bay City Council members did when they changed their minds about where a new fire station should be located.

At its Feb. 20 meeting, the Urban Renewal Agency voted 4-3 to site a new facility in the middle of the city-owned parking lot on Fourth Street, with Roger Gould, John Muenchrath, Stephanie Kramer and Michele Burnette in the majority. During Tuesday's Urban Renewal Agency meeting those four joined Mayor Jeff McKeown, Mark Daily and Jon Eck in support of the location at the corner of Fourth and Curtis Avenue.

Leading the exodus of opinion was Gould, who explained to the near-capacity audience his initial reasoning for supporting the Fourth Street site and what led him to waiver in his conviction. He said it was not until Tuesday afternoon that he decided to alter his view. He explained he learned from a local businessman that the J.C. Penney building had officially changed hands within the last few days and that an “old building will be redeveloped in the downtown area” beginning this summer that he had not expected to be developed.

According to the Coos County Assessor Bob Main, the former J.C. Penney building was purchased by Howan Inc., of Eugene. The sale took place March 2.

Citing the increased demand for parking the two developments would produce, Gould did not think he could continue to support the siting of a fire station on Fourth Street.

“If there is more use from (the J.C. Penney) building and if the other building becomes large in stature in the community, there will be more parking needs,” he said. “In that case, it would be apparent we don't have enough parking, so I move we locate the fire station on the Curtis site.”

Before the last consonant had issued from Gould's mouth, Mark Daily, who had vehemently opposed the Fourth Street siting, seconded the motion. The audience, composed, apparently, of parking space enthusiasts, burst into applause.

After the noise died down, Muenchrath asked Fire Chief Stan Gibson how much of a difference the two sites compare in his mind. While reiterating his preference for the Fourth Street location, Gibson admitted there wasn't much.

“As far as preferences go, it's nickels and dimes,” he said.

His one reservation was that a proper analysis of the fire station's needs, which would determine its size, had not been conducted. He suggested the small size of Curtis lot could situate a 15,000-square-foot station, but anything bigger would pose a problem.

Burnette said her primary concern with the Curtis site was the ability for fire engines to maneuver into the station after an assignment. She indicated she likes having the station near the center of town, however, because it would expedite responses to fire calls.

“I think it was all our second choice because of the response time,” she said.

Gould was the most verbose in outlining his reasoning. He said that the original design for the Fourth Street site, presented in September, had not included any replacement parking spaces. He said he endorsed the site in February because the new schematic included 57 proposed parking spaces to offset the 100 displaced stalls.

Gould continued by saying three factors played into his reasoning, the needs of the fire department, the need for parking and the cost of developing a site. At the February meeting, it was determined improving the Curtis site would cost $370,000 more than the Fourth site, in part because property would need to be purchased from two land owners.

An informal survey of parking use led him to believe local businesses would not be impacted by the Fourth Street fire station siting.

“Since last September I paid more particular attention as to the number of people parking in that area,” he said, noting he counted about 30. “With 28 spaces included in the Fourth Street design, I figured they would be able to find parking or else use lot E (behind the Coos Art Museum).”

Daily looked particularly pleased with the change of events, but kept his comments to a minimum.

“I don't particularly agree with the line of thinking that Roger took arguing for Fourth Street, but in the end, I certainly agree with his decision to go one block down Fourth Street,” he said.

According to Joanie Johnson, who spoke during public comment after the unanimous vote was taken, she had collected a total of 605 signatures of people who disagreed with the agency's earlier decision. She also made several arguments in favor of an alternate site, though her comments were moot.

Following the meeting, the Urban Renewal Agency went into executive session to discuss real property transactions. Before the city can proceed with development of the site, it must purchase the land currently occupied by the former Oregon State Police office as well as Monica's Gourmet Coastal Coffee Co.

For more information on the new fire station site click here.