(Cushing, Okla.) Cushing commissioners held a special meeting Monday evening to review two agenda items: the schematic design of the proposed safety center and to discuss a “memorandum of understanding” with Allied Waste Services of Stillwater. The memorandum took up the least amount of time. Commissioners agreed to have City Manager Steve Spears and City Attorney Stewart Arthurs continue putting together an agreement with Allied Waste so it could be on the next meeting’s agenda.
Most of the meeting revolved around the schematic design of the Cushing Public Safety Center. City Manager Steve Spears reminded commissioners that the schematics (or diagrams) represented only approximately 20 percent of what would be the finished plans. Spears asked the commissioners to look it over, discuss it and make suggestions. “We want your input before proceeding to the next step.”
He began by showing them “the guts” of the design and moved on to drawings of how the facility might look once completed. The facility will be made up of two structures – one to house the police and fire departments and an auxiliary building to house firefighting and rescue equipment.
“The main building is estimated at 25,000 square feet and has some architectural elements that will really make it look nice,” Spears said. “It will more than comply with the Main Street Corridor code. However, just like any other structure, it, too, will have to be compliant to code.” Not only with Cushing’s codes, but it will have to meet the standards set by two state agencies – the Fire Marshall and the Oklahoma Health Department. The auxiliary building, approximately 9,000 square feet, is expected to be a basic steel structure, with possibly a few amenities to make it more aesthetic.
More importantly, perhaps, is whether or not the design suits the needs of the Cushing police and fire departments. Commissioner Jim Hogrefe raised a concern as to how much space is enough – especially when planning for the future. And with an estimated price tag of $6.5 million, striking the balance between current need and future need is a delicate one.
“We did a lot of research on projected population growth,” Spears said, “and based on that, we have allowed room for some growth. However, if the city should grow rapidly and much more than expected, an auxiliary station would probably be necessary. But then, if the city should – let’s say – double in population, then tax dollars should grow accordingly which would make it possible to do something like that.”
The police department will reside on the west end of the building with a single-car sally port at the back. “The sally port will allow us to load and unload prisoners more safely because once the doors [located at each end] close, it would make it very difficult for a prisoner to escape,” Chief Terry Brannon said. While the sally port will indeed increase security, some of the increased security will come in the form of having the right room for the right process. At present, Cushing police are making do with the space they have by using areas for multiple purposes. The new facility will include a squad room, booking area, a temporary holding cell, mental health holding cell (an all padded room) and a handi-capped accessible cell as well as personnel offices, various storage areas, regular cells and a call center that could easily accommodate three dispatchers. “They [dispatchers] have the toughest job,” Brannon said. “They not only answer the calls, they are in charge of the prisoners.”
On the fire department side of the main building there will be at least four bays for equipment that is used daily – ie: fire engines, pumper trucks and ambulances – with the auxiliary building having eight bays for equipment not used as often. By housing all the equipment at one location, response time to some emergencies is expected to be expedited. Currently many pieces of equipment are housed off-site due to lack of space.
Other additions include an air-lock system that will virtually eliminate exhaust fumes from coming into the building, space for training exercises, a bunker gear room and the space to accommodate female firefighters/paramedics. (“It’s not a matter of IF we will have a female firefighter,” Chief Brent Kerr said, “but when.”) The area will also include sleeping quarters, a kitchen, dayroom and offices for key personnel.
A common area between departments will include a physical training room and a community room that can be used for training or special meetings.
“People ask us all the time when we are going to start on the new building,” Kerr said. “They don’t know we’ve been working on it for months now. We’ve traveled around looking at other facilities and have seen what has worked well and maybe even more importantly – what hasn’t. The work that’s been done hasn’t been seen – there just hasn’t been any ground broken yet.”
While no ground breaking date has been set, commissioners commended the work McCool & Associates has done so far and gave the “go ahead” to continue with the process. The process that will ultimately lead to a Public Safety Center the citizens of Cushing can be proud of.
The Cushing Public Safety Center will be located at 200 W. Main in Cushing.
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