Site for a new Lake Manatee EMS station is under fire

Manatee County commissioners have delayed an application for a proposed 4,740-square-foot EMS station at 1505 Dam Road, near Lake Manatee. 

As the board clearly was leaning toward denial at the land use meeting Dec. 4, Commission Chair George Kruse offered the option of deferring the item, and Deputy County Administrator Bryan Parnell accepted the offer. 

The current 1,196-square-foot EMS station sits on the same 10-acre site where the new station was proposed to occupy, along with the Quattlebaum House, a 6,342-square-foot former home that is now occupied by the county's Natural Resources department. 

The EMS station served as a guest house before Manatee County bought the property in 1980. EMS has occupied the guest house since 1982.

Courtesy image

The site borders Lake Manatee and Lake Manatee State Park. The land’s zoning is a mix of agriculture and conservation. 

The EMS station sits within the conservation area, but it was built in the 1970s, and the land wasn’t rezoned to conservation until 1991. 

Manatee County's staff members requested the entire site be rezoned to Planned Development Public Interest, so a new station could be built behind the Quattlebaum House, closer to Lake Manatee. 

Kruse noted that commissioners and staff were all on the same page in that another EMS station needs to be built in the area, but some commissioners questioned whether that particular location — on conservation land and abutting Lake Manatee — is a good fit. 

“I’m not going to get accused of allowing the government to do things that I don’t otherwise allow the private sector to do,” Kruse said of the proposed rezone. 

The difference of three minutes

There are several reasons why the Lake Manatee EMS station needs to be replaced.

For residents in that area, it comes down to response times.

EMS response times average just over eight minutes, but the response time from the Lake Manatee station is nearly 11 minutes because one ambulance is not enough to service an area so far away from a hospital. 

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center is 12 miles away from the station, and Manatee Memorial Hospital is 14 miles away. 

A trip to the hospital takes the Lake Manatee ambulance out of service for over an hour, so the next closest ambulance has to respond to any other calls for assistance during that time.

What difference does three minutes make? 

“Hold your breath for three minutes,” said James Crutchfield, the deputy director of Public Safety. “Someone who’s having a stroke, that can mean the difference between sucking through a straw for the rest of your life or being able to walk.”

The need for improved service in the area was acknowledged by the last board when it approved the purchase of a second ambulance and the construction of a larger station, but the location wasn’t determined. 

Crutchfield said ambulances take about three years to build, and the one on order is half way through the process. 

Property Management decided on the location off Dam Road because it's county-owned land that can save on costs. 

Sydney Seymore, the project manager, said that the department looked into tearing down the Quattlebaum House to build the station in its place, but “based upon sizes and setbacks, it wasn’t feasible.” 

For EMS staff, the Lake Manatee station needs to be replaced because the building is “inadequate.” 

Crutchfield said the inside quarters are cramped, and there’s not even a bay to store the ambulance. 

In December 2023, Manatee County purchased six new ambulances for $2,450,178. That comes out to over $400,000 each. Nearly $700,000 is earmarked for the Lake Manatee ambulance, plus its required staff, in the county's capital improvement plan.

Modern-day ambulances are stored in drive-thru bays that keep them powered and dry. Equipment, such as medicine coolers, require the ambulances to be connected to power when parked. 

The ambulance at Lake Manatee sits out in the rain. There’s no room for the second ambulance because the building doesn’t have extra space to house a second crew. 

Back to the drawing board

Lake Manatee falls in Commissioner Carol Felts’ district. She told the staff to go back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, EMS might have to look for help from East Manatee Fire Rescue. 

While commissioners questioned if sharing space could be a permanent solution, Crutchfield said it would only be a stopgap. 

Fire Station 3 on Rye Road has provided temporary shelter to Lake Manatee EMS in the past when the station has encountered electric and plumbing problems.

“East Manatee Fire Rescue has been great,” EMS Chief Sean Dwyer said. “They’ve always opened their doors for us, but it’s not a long term solution without an expansion of that building.” 

That station has an engine and a brush truck to store, plus its own crew. It can’t permanently accommodate two ambulances and two more crews. 

Crutchfield also noted that any sort of long term need for space comes with a cost. The county would have to negotiate a lease agreement with the fire district. 

In addition, as fire standards change and new equipment is acquired, the EMS unit could be pushed out for a lack of space.

So now it’s up to Property Management to either adjust its plan for the Dam Road property or find a new location. 

If the county purchases property, Parnell said the station will require between three to five acres of land.