![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
As of this month, the town of Ross requested that the Ross Valley Fire Station 18 delay the station’s closure by one year. The town had decided in 2021 that the station should be demolished due to its disrepair by 2024, but Ross officials decided the transition would take longer than anticipated. Officials and firefighter personnel are working to figure out paramedic coverage options for the other local stations, but Station 18 is still set to close July 1, 2025.
Officials agreed upon the Station 18 closure in 2021, when the effects of the closure were unclear to the town’s residents. The town of Ross requested a one-year delay for the closure of Station 18 so that every member of the Ross Valley Fire Department (RVFD) and the Ross Paramedic Authority (RPA) can determine how to maintain emergency medical responses in the Ross Valley area.
The Ross Valley Fire Station is funded mainly by local residential contributions from towns including Fairfax, Ross, San Anselmo, and Sleepy Hollow. Station 18 has been standing for over 93 years, and although it serves as a primary station for the RVFD and the RPA, taxpayers didn’t want to allocate any funding towards the repair of the station. The only other option was for Station 18 to be demolished.
Station 18 is in poor condition, and the costs of remodeling it would be greater than rebuilding it. The complex includes a fire and police station, offices for town administration, and an ambulance bay. The estimated cost of rebuilding the complex would be around 28.4 million dollars.
The Ross Valley Paramedic Authority (RVPA) has operated one of its two paramedic ambulances out of the Ross fire station since the early 1980s. The removal of the paramedic authority would cause the emergency response time to increase by two minutes, creating a disadvantage in service to the area.
Ross Mayor William Kircher, a four-year member of the Ross Town Council, believes the increase in response time would be harmful and that Station 18 needs to remain in Ross.
“The Ross Town Council believes that it is very important that emergency medical service personnel remain based in Ross and the response time remains approximately the same as it is now,” Kircher said.
Firefighters in Marin annually rotate among the San Anselmo, Fairfax, Sleepy Hollow, and Ross fire stations. Local firefighter of 15 years, Justin Hanson, is currently an engineer at the San Anselmo Fire Station. Hanson believes that if Station 18 were to close, there would be an increase in personnel at the other local stations.
“[The closure of Station 18] would affect us in the sense that we’re going to get the people that are down [stationed in Ross] on our other engines, so that will help us with our job to have an additional person on the other engines,” Hanson said.
Emergency vehicles from the Sleepy Hollow, Fairfax, and San Anselmo fire stations would be better staffed with the closure, which would help in situations where EMTs are needed, as local fire stations are currently understaffed. Station 18 engineer Andrew Juric believes the closure would benefit the other local fire departments.
“The National Standard from the [National Fire Protection Association] (NFPA) for firefighting is four personnel on each fire engine… The best opportunity that we have right now is currently staffed with two personnel on each fire engine… Getting that third person on each available unit that we have is the biggest [positive] in my mind,” Juric said.
The Ross Town Council continues to explore ways to ensure the response time for emergency vehicles isn’t affected.
“The Town Council has reached out to various fire chiefs, consultants, and directors of the Ross Valley Fire Department and Ross Valley Paramedic Authority to discuss how best to provide adequate levels of emergency medical response in the greater Ross Valley,” Kircher said.
Ross Valley Fire Station 18 is still scheduled to close July 1, 2025. However, firefighters and other personnel are actively exploring ways to keep the station open. Residents can expect updates soon on whether the station will close or remain operational, as either decision will impact surrounding communities.
This story was originally published on The Pitch on November 11, 2024.