CARLSBORG — Clallam Fire District 3, which serves the east side of Clallam County and sliver of the west side of Jefferson County, will conduct its first meeting in the Carlsborg Operations and Training Center on Tuesday.
The meeting will be in a classroom at the facility at 255 Carlsborg Road. Meetings begin at 1 p.m. and are conducted in person and via Zoom on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
Administrative staff have moved to a new office in the Carlsborg Business Center on the 800 block of Carlsborg Road across from the Carlsborg Post Office. Chief Ben Andrews said the tentative plan was to have the three fire chiefs and administrators moved by last Friday.
District business, such as issuing permits, is to operate from here rather than Station 34 in Sequim.
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.
Plans to design future fire stations are on hold until staff members complete a required conditional use permit update for its Operations and Training Center in Carlsborg.
Rice Fergus Miller of Bremerton — which previously designed the property — is leading the permit design process.
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.
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.
For more on Clallam County Fire District 3, call 360-683-4242 or visit ccfd3.org.
