Letter: Open Bay View station essential for safety

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March 2, 2013

Letter: Open Bay View station essential for safety

Anonymous Gloucester Daily Times The Gloucester Daily Times Sat Mar 02, 2013, 12:00 AM EST

To the editor:

As a Lanesville resident, I’m going to get a tad selfish.

Former Mayor Tobey has an experienced eye to the importance of the Bay View fire station being manned and open.

From Bay View, through Lanesville to the Rockport town line, are a lot of old established homes, residences of many seniors, of which I am one. Should one of us older folks have a medical emergency such as a heart attack, or perhaps one of the children in the area become victim to an accident, without the Bay View station, I would probably succumb to an emergency, before an ambulance from Gloucester Central were to arrive at my home.

An ambulance dispatched from Bay View, on the other hand, would get to me in under five minutes, and it could reach the city line in less than 10 minutes, thereby increasing the survival rate of the seniors, including myself, who live in that three-mile radius considerably.

Also, the rapid response of a crew to a fire in that same area would more than likely save the burning structure. I guess that’s the reason for the close spacing of all those hydrants.

Simply put, rapid response equals the saving of property and lives. In the event of an extended fire, the damages in property and lives, or injuries, would far outweigh the dollars the city is holding back.

I do not know the original intent of building that station. I can only assume that it was built where it is in order to centralize it between Northern city line and the northern edge of the central city, recognizing that time was of the essence in either direction to minimize damage and injury to the older city residents and the few businesses that were in the area.

Our poor city — which has had difficulty deciding where to build a hotel, and has in its control a piece of prime waterfront real estate, could more than likely raise enough revenue to fund the Bay View station, by building a floating transient boat facility, with refueling capability for tourists, that may come to the city by boat, and fill that new hotel on that prime waterfront real estate.

Should planning be well done, the remaining vacant land could be used for both short term metered parking for residents, and long-term paid parking for those tourists coming to the hotel.

In that way, that prime property not only becomes a tourist accommodation but a source of income to fund the expense of a fully open and operating Bay View station.

To me, that’s a win-win situation.

GERALD MAHIEU

Langsford Street, Gloucester