Argyle Area Civic Council

Clay County Fire Station 26 in Argyle opens November 6, 2002

Firefighters settle into Argyle farmhouse

Saturday, November 9, 2002

Firefighters settle into Argyle farmhouse

By Mary Maraghy Clay County Line staff writer

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110902/nec_10913335.shtml

Clay County Fire Rescue on Wednesday opened a fire station in a farmhouse in Argyle that they affectionately call the Ponderosa.

Horses and cows grazed nearby and chickens strutted next to rescue workers who unloaded supplies for the new and unusual Station 26 on Cheswick Oak Avenue at Spencer Plantation Boulevard.

Spero Saxon, who lives off Cheswick Oak Avenue, said he's encouraged because he has long been concerned about being so far from a fire department. The closest is on Blanding at Arora Boulevard, nearly a mile south of the Orange Park Mall.

"We'd lose this wood frame house in 25 minutes," said Saxon, who planned to call his insurance company to see if the nearby station could earn him lower home insurance premiums.

Until the county can afford to build a permanent station, the farmhouse station will serve the Clay county portion of Argyle and immediate surrounding areas.

A permanent station may be constructed in 18 months for about $250,000 on 2 acres that landowner Frank Spencer donated. The land is south of where Cheswick Oak Avenue ends.

For now, the temporary station will have a two-person crew on staff around the clock. (Eventually, it will be a three-person crew.) The crew will be trained in firefighting and medical emergencies. At least one crew member will be a paramedic trained to administer medication and to treat shock, trauma, respiratory problems, heart attacks and other health crises.

Blood pressure checks will be offered free from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the station when the fire truck is present.

Argyle residents can expect to see the Station 26 fire engine touring the area as rescue workers familiarize themselves with street names, addresses, block numbers and fire hydrants. They want to keep up with the rapid growth that has exceeded existing maps. They will hand-draw maps as new streets are built, said Lt. Bernita Bush, public information officer.

Spencer is leasing the 1,900-square-foot home to the fire department until the permanent station is built. Spencer's relatives, who were living in the home, have relocated, Bush said.

The station's captain is Lori Lentile, Clay County's second female fire captain. The first was Pam Pierce in Fleming Island, who is now retired on disability.

"It was quite a project," said Lentile, who oversaw about $10,000 worth of renovations at the home. "But I had lots of help and support from the department. Anything we needed, we got."

Reporting for duty at 8 a.m. Wednesday were Lt. Sam Young, a paramedic, and Engineer Monty Coleman. While checking out their new digs, they were amused with the fireplace and the hitching post out back.

"We've never had a station like this before," Young said.

Young said rescue workers will tour homes under construction to determine ways to best battle potential fires.

"Being on the ground floor of construction, we'll be in front of the power curve instead of behind it."

Plus, it will be nice to get to know people in the community. Young said he hopes residents will drop in to say "hi" and bring the kids to see the fire engine.

"That's the best part," Young said. "It's a neighborhood thing."

Staff writer Mary Maraghy can be reached at (904) 278-9487, extension 19, or mmaraghy@jacksonville.com.

Fire Station History - TU Excerpts - Hot Links at Bottom of Page

Wednesday, December 4, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120402/nec_11123971.shtml
Firefighters grill for new station
Cookout marks opening of No. 26
By Tracy Spengler Clay County Line correspondent

Many firefighters love to cook, have hearty appetites and are among the best cooks in town. So it's unlikely anyone was left unsatisfied from an open house and cookout -- hot dogs and wings -- on the lawn of the new Clay County fire station in Argyle Saturday.

The celebration, hosted as a joint effort by the Argyle Home Owners' Association, the Argyle Area Civic Council and Clay County Fire and Rescue, came less than a month after station No. 26 officially opened Nov. 6.



Saturday, November 30, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/113002/neR_11086792.shtml
Cookout celebrates fire station
River City News

Meet your neighborhood firefighters today at a cookout to celebrate the new Clay County Fire Station in Argyle.

It's from 1 to 4 p.m. at Station 26, 335 Cheswick Oak Ave.

County officials have been invited.

There will be hot dogs, wings, sodas, snow cones, cotton candy, a moonwalk and clowns. Participants are asked to bring an unwrapped toy for a needy child and/or non-perishable food items for Clay County food pantries.

For more information, call David Reagan at 772-1718.



Saturday, August 10, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081002/nec_10132601.shtml
Argyle gets good news at Night Out event
Fire station in the plans
By Tracy Spengler County Line correspondent

Despite August's typical heat and haze, the mood was upbeat as hundreds of Argyle residents joined other Clay County neighborhoods Tuesday to celebrate National Night Out, an evening dedicated to joining forces with police against crime and to promote drug prevention.

"National Night Out is also a time to identify things that aren't right in our community," said Argyle coordinator Dave Reagan, who serves on the Clay County sheriff's advisory council and has been at the center on the issue of lack of fire protection for the neighborhood.

There are approximately 2,200 homes and 7,700 residents in the area, and an additional 225-unit townhome community has recently been approved. Yet the closest fire station is south of the Orange Park Mall at 207 Blanding Blvd. The average response time to emergency calls is 15 to 20 minutes, and this has area residents more than a little concerned.

"We were a little distressed knowing that the response time is so long," said resident Mike Hardin. "With a response time of 15 or 20 minutes, well, that could mean you're dead. We're praying hard that nothing bad happens."

It was no surprise then that Commissioner Patrick McGovern's announcement of a new station was met with applause and approval.

"You are protected today, but you will be better protected on Oct. 1 with the addition of a fully functional fire department and sheriff sub-station," McGovern said.

The 2-acre "station" will actually be a house, rented to the county by developer Frank Spencer, until a permanent station can be built.

"We will have nine firefighters on board with an engine and a rescue squad," McGovern said. "On Oct. 1, Argyle will have the best police and fire protection in Northeast Florida."



Wednesday, August 7, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/080702/nec_10101673.shtml
Clay to create temporary fire station in Argyle area

By R. Michael Anderson County Line staff writer

But county officials say that's about to change.

Even if firefighters have to work out of a temporary building for a few years, they say, fire protection will be provided in about two months to more than 2,000 homes in several subdivisions along Cheswick Oak Avenue.

County commissioners, prodded by numerous complaints of inadequate fire and rescue services in the area, have committed to hiring nine new firefighters to work in the growing community just south of the Duval County line.

The estimated $350,000 to fund the positions will be in the 2002-03 budget, which begins Oct. 1. And the county won't have to wait for the new firefighters to be trained before putting them to work.

"When we hire them, they're already trained and certified and ready for work," said County Commissioner Larry Lancaster, chairman of the public safety and finance and personnel committees. "Our deadline actually is the middle of September to have everything in place."

"Everything" includes all the equipment firefighters will need and a temporary facility, possibly a leased house in one of the subdivisions near Cheswick Oak Avenue, which extends about a mile south of Argyle Forest Boulevard.



Saturday, July 20, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/072002/opl_9962352.html
Letter to the Editor
CLAY COUNTY: Developers should fund infrastructure
. . .
Meanwhile, near-term requirements such as a police station and fire station in Argyle and other areas are not being met. . . .

BILL WILKINSON
Orange Park



Sunday, July 14, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071402/met_9909423.html
Clay faces growth pains
By Binyamin Appelbaum Times-Union staff writer

At the end of Cheswick Oaks Avenue, which runs south from the Duval-Clay counties line, stands a white-painted barrier with reflectors bolted on -- the border between suburbia and Frank Spencer's cow farm.

Not a single store stands between the barrier and the county line. Not a single school, park or any other public facility.

Nothing but 2,000 homes and a road to Jacksonville.

"The infrastructure just isn't there to support the development that's going on here," said David Reagan, a neighborhood resident. "The next library is scheduled to be built here in 2015. My fourth-grader will be in college, hopefully in Gainesville, by then."

The county's long-term plan, which includes the library, also shows a fire station in Argyle, and a regional park, and a $25 million road called the Cleveland Connector that will link the neighborhood to Blanding Boulevard and Branan Field-Chaffee Road.

For some of those projects, land already has been set aside.

The money, however, is nowhere to be found.

"Clay County finds itself in a real bind," said Pat McGovern, chairman of the County Commission. "We lack adequate sources to fund public infrastructure."



Saturday, July 13, 2002
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071302/nec_9890774.shtml
Letters to the editor

Bravo to Beth Reese Cravey's article in the July 6 edition of the County Line! Hopefully this will get the attention of other homeowners in this area and encourage the Clay County Board of County Commissioners to do something about safety in Argyle.

Clay County's Argyle residents have been neglected long enough. There should not be any more new home or townhouse construction approved in this area until the county can appropriately protect the residents there.

SHELLEY RICHARDSON
Sweetbriar


Area without a park
I am writing to you in response to the article in the County Line on July 3 titled "County has options for outdoor fun."

I believe you left out at least one spot that deserves mentioning. In the Clay County section of Argyle, there are approximately 2,200 homes. Using the same figures used by the county to develop the Branan Field Sector Plan of 3.5 people per unit, that means approximately 7,700 people live in the Clay County section of Argyle.

I know for a fact that last school year there were 488 elementary-age children attending W.E. Cherry Elementary School. That does not include the students that attend other elementary schools, are home-schooled, attend junior high or high school. The article failed to include even one acre of public park space available to the Clay County residents of Argyle to enjoy the outdoors.

DAVID M. REAGAN
Orange Park



Saturday, July 13, 2002
Property tax increase seems likely
County manager says hike necessary
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071302/nec_9890021.shtml
By R. Michael Anderson County Line staff writer

"We have no alternative," said Public Safety Director Jim Corbin, who is responsible for providing all fire and rescue services in the county -- a task that is becoming increasingly challenging as subdivision developments continue to spur rapid population growth.

In Corbin's original budget proposal, he had requested nine additional firefighter/EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) positions, as well as the equipment they would need, to keep up with a growing population in the northern portion of the county west of Blanding Boulevard near the Duval County line in Argyle.

He'll get no new firefighters under the county manager's proposed budget.



Thursday, July 4, 2002
Argyle alarmed by lax fire safety
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070402/met_9835178.html
By Binyamin Appelbaum Times-Union staff writer

ORANGE PARK -- It was the kind of thing that happens in new homes. Diana Samuels put a pot of water on the stove, walked outside talking on her cordless phone, and the door locked behind her.

Fearing fire, Samuels called 911.

Thirty minutes later, an engine dispatched from Blanding Boulevard arrived at her home. By then a salesman at a model home down the street had shouldered through the garage door.

The stove was off. Samuels was steaming. The date was August 1999.

Three years later, the nearest Clay County fire station still sits 7 miles away on Blanding Boulevard, a Jacksonville station on Collins Road is not much closer, and stories like Samuels' are common among residents of subdivisions along Cheswick Oak Avenue. Hers is one of about 2,000 homes along Cheswick Oak Avenue, which dangles from the south side of Argyle Forest Boulevard.

"We have no fire, no rescue, no permanent police in our area," resident Shelley Richardson said. "I wish I hadn't bought here because it's so bad. I could be dead by the time anyone got here."

The issue recently bubbled to prominence after the Clay County School Board announced plans to build an elementary school in the Argyle area.



Thursday, July 4, 2002
Jacksonville Journal
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070402/met_9835192.html
Quote, unquote

"We have no fire, no rescue, no permanent police in our area. ... I wish I hadn't bought here because it's so bad. I could be dead by the time anyone got here."

-- Shelley Richardson, about problems with emergency services for her home along Cheswick Oak Avenue, which runs south from Argyle Forest Boulevard.



Wednesday, March 27, 2002
Argyle Council (AACC) makes itself heard on community issues
By Sandy Strickland Staff writer
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/032702/nec_8974193.shtml

Some of the council's goals are:
* bringing a fire station to the area.

Email us
ArgyleACC@joimail.com

Times Union Web Links

12-4-2002 Firefighters grill for new station
11-30-2002 Cookout celebrates fire station
11-9-2002 Clay County Fire Rescue has opened Station 11-6-2002
8-10-2002 Argyle gets good news at Night Out event -Fire Station
8-7-2002 Clay to create temporary fire station in Argyle area
7-13-2002 Letters to the editor Shelly Richardson & David Reagan
7-14-2002 Clay faces growth pains <- Great Article
7-13-2002 Corbin requested 9 additional firefighters for Argyle
7-4-2002 Argyle alarmed by lax fire safety.
3-27-2002 AACC makes itself heard on issues. Bring Fire Station.