Fire district considers fall ballot issue

By Jacob Spetzler | on June 07, 2023

The Gunnison fire department trains on a new firetruck on Wednesday evening, April 19, 2023. (Photo by Jacob Spetzler)

Once again, the Gunnison County Fire Protection District is teeing up plans to garner funds for a new fire station.

In November of 2021, both the City of Gunnison and the District asked voters for funding for a new station in two separate measures, but both failed at the polls. This fall, the District hopes to go back to voters with an updated question and fundraising strategy. Since the previous ballot issue, the design was pared down. The latest drawings are 8,000 square feet smaller than what voters saw in 2021 and the final budget for the renovation is being worked out now.

The District's board will watch 2023 property valuations, which are significantly higher than last year as a result of the pandemic-era housing boom, before making a decision on a property tax increase, City of Gunnison Fire Marshall Hugo Ferchau said. If numbers remain high when certified valuations go out at the end of summer, the District may not pursue the issue due to the burden taxpayers are already under.

At the start of this month, Ferchau asked County Commissioners to sign on to a station expansion by deeding county-owned property adjacent to the current fire station over to the District. Commissioners unanimously agreed that making the land available was a priority, if climate goals were kept in mind during design and a funding mechanism was identified.

But that mechanism is no easy ask, a puzzle that the District, alongside the city, has been trying to solve for years. The heart of the issue dates back to 1974, when the district was created and the station was built. From its inception, the city and the District have shared the cost of providing fire protection. The city is excluded from the District's service area, but via an intergovernmental agreement, the two share responsibilities and essentially act as one department, Ferchau said.

A solution for the funding question may lie in including the city into the district's boundaries through a separate ballot measure, a move which would require voter approval as it would increase property taxes in city limits. City Council has, in the past, considered consolidating the two, but never followed through.

"We were unsuccessful two years ago. So we need to make sure people understand what we’re doing and why," Ferchau said.

The District has needed a new station for years, said Finance Director and Interim City Manager Ben Cowan. The fire station is the "worst facility" the city has, he said. It was designed to house 25-30 volunteers, but there are currently 40 in the Gunnison station alone. Built in 1974, the building is in a state of significant disrepair.

"First and foremost, in the industry, we’ve started to identify our stations as being one of the primary causes for firefighter cancer," Ernie Young said, a near 30-year volunteer with the Gunnison Volunteer Fire Department.

Newer architecture helps remove contact with carcinogens by sectioning off areas with firefighter gear from "cleaner" areas like meeting rooms and kitchen areas, and provides for cleaner air through diesel exhaust management. Every winter, volunteers find new leaks in the roof, which can pool and create mold, Young said. Ironically, the fire station doesn't have a sprinkler system.

"We have millions of dollars of fire apparatus in the station without an updated fire suppression system," he said.

A new station is as much about providing for the future as it is about remedying the past, Young said, as the nature of the job is changing. The district would like to recruit college students, but would need dorm areas and larger facilities to manage them. Volunteers fight more wildland fires and do more swift water rescues than they did 20 years ago, furthering the need for comprehensive training that a larger building could accommodate.

"This is love of community and trying to keep our house clean. That's what we consider it, it's our house," he said.

(Abby Harrison can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or [email protected].)

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