In an update from the Port Huron City Council meeting on June 13, 2022, Mayor Pro-Tem Sherry Archibald said there were two things residents need to know: there is no plan to tear down fire station #4, located on 24th Street, and FEMA has updated the flood plane which affects some city homeowners.
After a lengthy public comment session at Monday’s meeting, where residents expressed opposition to closing fire station #4, Archibald wants to assure residents that they are exploring the best option for updating the city’s fire stations. That’s why the city called for the third-party study done by Redstone Architects.
The 300 page study of the city’s fire stations mentioned that fire station #4 could be closed if a new station was built at White Park, but Archibald said, “That is not the plan at the moment. It is not under consideration at the moment. It is simply something that was an alternative option presented in the study. There is no plan at the moment, even if a new central station is built, we do not plan to tear down station #4.”
At Monday’s meeting, the council decided to approve approximately $1.5 Million in renovations to the Sanborn Fire Station, and they entered into a contract with a company to do architectural drawing, designs, and specs for a new central fire station located at White Park. They also agreed to solicit bids for the cost of the project.
“One thing moving forward, is you cannot make a decision to renovate the existing central fire station or to replace it and build at the White Park location as the study recommends until we have some idea of what that would cost. We have no cost comparison at this point, we only have the estimate the study gave us.”
There are challenges to station #4 because of its size, and those challenges will be taken into consideration as they move forward. The benefit of having station #4 is that emergency response times are quicker for residents that live nearby with the fire department arriving even before EMS at medical emergencies.
Archibald also wants residents to know that FEMA has updated the flood plane. “There are now homes within Port Huron that were never on the flood plane that now are.”
Having a home on a FEMA recognized flood plane can cause homeowner’s insurance rates to rise, so residents should contact the city to find out if their property is affected so they can shop around for the best insurance rates.
Contact the City of Port Huron at: (810) 984-9700 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at https://porthuron.org/
Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand
