SeaTac lawmakers, acting on two controversial matters March 28, authorized rebuilding the McMicken Heights fire station and changed zoning to allow a student health clinic at Tyee High School.

Four neighboring residential properties will be bought out to accommodate the expanded fire station at 3521 S. 170th Street.

Because of its central location, city officials plan to house fire administration, an emergency command center, training room, and a ladder truck at the site.

The health clinic would provide primary and acute care, vaccinations, disease management, sports physicals and health education for Tyee High and Chinook Middle students.

Some SeaTac residents object to the clinic because they say staffers will dispense condoms to students. Highline School District officials have not commented on whether birth control devices will be given out.

Lawmakers voted 5-2 to replace the McMicken Heights fire station.

Voting in favor were Mayor Gene Fisher, Deputy Mayor Ralph Shape, and council members Chris Wythe, Terry Anderson and Don DeHan.

Opposed were councilmen Joe Brennan and Tony Anderson.

DeHan participated in the fire station debate and voted by telephone. This was the first use of the recently approved telephone system for absent council members.

Facilities Director Pat Patterson estimated a new McMicken Heights station with a headquarters and emergency center will cost $4.9 million. The costs would be the cheapest among alternatives suggested, according to Patterson.

Council members have budgeted $2 million this year and $2.1 million next year to rebuild a fire station.

Fire Chief Bob Meyer emphasized training facilities and the ladder truck need to be located in a central location.

SeaTac also has fire stations at 3215 S. 152nd St. in the north end and 2929 S. 200th Street in the south end.

Joe Brennan proposed locating fire headquarters and the emergency center at city hall. He also suggested rebuilding the 200th Street station first and placing the new structure in the parking lot across the street from the current location.

Brennan noted that if the emergency center were located in city hall, department heads would not need to risk leaving city hall to make their way to the fire station in an emergency.

Councilman Tony Anderson said he hadn’t been convinced that the McMicken Heights location is the best site for the central station.

He suggested that a spot on International Boulevard closer to expected development around the South 154th Street light-rail station may be a better site.

Meyer responded that city officials had looked other locations before deciding the current location is best.

Councilman Anderson also voiced concerns that residents near the McMicken Heights station had not been informed the city was planning to expand the station.

City Manager Craig Ward said the public would be notified once the council decides to build the station.

Councilwoman Terry Anderson added that McMicken Heights residents have always supported their neighborhood fire station.

Wythe argued that the council should begin by building one station before worrying about replacing all three.

“One substantial fire station would be a success for citizens,” Wythe declared. “We should put our eggs in a central basket.”

Added DeHan by telephone, “It’s the right thing to do in the right place.”

Lawmakers put several restrictions on the Tyee student health clinic before unanimously approving the zoning change.

DeHan did not vote on the clinic.

The clinic can be no more than 1,500 square feet, serve only Tyee and Chinook students, and be open only from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays as well as evenings and weekends during school-sponsored events.

Debbie Wilkinson, operations director for Community Health Services, said a family health clinic to be built about a half-mile from Tyee at the Lutheran Social Services complex, would serve elementary and younger children.

Her organization will manage both facilities.

Tyee clinic proponents had previously told lawmakers that teenagers would not use a health clinic catering to families.

A nurse practitioner, medical assistant and service representative will staff the clinic along with a half-time school district nurse.

A clinic operating agreement with the Highline School District will be submitted soon to lawmakers for their approval, Ward added.