Plans to design future Sequim area fire stations are on hold until Clallam County Fire District 3 staff complete a required conditional use permit update for its Operations and Training Center in Carlsborg.

Fire commissioners unanimously agreed on April 19 to begin contract negotiations with Rice Fergus Miller of Bremerton — who previously designed the property — to lead the permit design process.

Fire District 3 chief Ben Andrews said in an interview that the permit will update the Carlsborg property’s master plan that already includes a new fire station and administration building.

“We’ve been told the stormwater code has changed, which will likely be a bulk of the update,” he said.

Fire commissioners budgeted up to $375,000 this year for architectural and engineering plans to replace Carlsborg’s Station 33 due to its small size and antiquated infrastructure, and Volunteer Station 31 for its unstable condition.

District staff said there are plans to move the Carlsborg Station to the Operations and Training Center at 255 Carlsborg Road and Station 31 to property along East Anderson Road out of the flood and tsunami zone.

However, the district has not yet determined funding source(s) for those plans, staff said.

Commissioners heard presentations from Rice Fergus Miller and TCA Architecture of Seattle about their qualifications, but a presentation on the progressive design-build process on April 12 led them to wait, Andrews said.

He said commissioners want to explore it more as it would allow the district to hire a contractor who would hire an architect and be more involved in the early planning process.

“It provides the district a lot of flexibility and gets the building within budget and does not have a ton of contingencies,” Andrews said.

Plans should be more firm in about a year-and-a-half after the conditional use permit is updated and the district’s strategic plan is finished and approved along with a master plan of all future stations.

“At that time, we’ll see what’s the best way to get it (the stations) done and move along,” Andrews said.

New meeting space

Starting Tuesday, May 3, the fire district will host its regular commissioner meetings at the Carlsborg Operations and Training Center, 255 Carlsborg Road, inside one of its new classrooms.

Meetings begin at 1 p.m. in-person and via Zoom on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

New administrative space

Administrative staff continue the move to a new office across from the Carlsborg Post Office this week. Andrews said the district’s three fire chiefs and administrators should all tentatively be in the space by Friday where district business, such as issuing permits, will operate from here rather than Station 34 in the City of Sequim.

The space is located in the Carlsborg Business Center on the 800 block of Carlsborg Road.

Bedrooms were needed at Station 34, Andrews said, so his office and assistant chief Tony Hudson’s space have already been converted to bedrooms for firefighters with more space conversions to come.

District staff weighed other properties near Station 34 but leases were higher than Carlsborg, Andrews said.

An additional 600 square feet will be rented in February 2023 after the district shifts to hire battalion chiefs the month prior. Andrews said once the three chiefs are hired, they’ll serve each shift as an administrator and responder for all the stations 24/7.

Currently, the three chiefs split responding duties in off hours from home.

For more on Clallam County Fire District 3, call 360-683-4242 or visit ccfd3.org.