The City of Seward will pay Anchorage-based R&M Consultants $318,330 to complete preliminary design work for a new fire station, following unanimous approval of the move by the Seward City Council on Monday, Sept. 23.

A memo by Deputy City Manager Jason Bickling, attached to a resolution adopted by the council during their Monday meeting, says that a feasibility study authorized by the council in 2023 found that the current facility of the Seward Fire Department on 4th Avenue is “significantly undersized, inefficient, is unsafe, and does not meet current code.” The city considered combined renovation of the fire department and Seward Police Department, but because the cost is “relatively the same and the location needs being different,” they chose to develop two sites.

The agreement with R&M Engineering, per a fee proposal by Senior Planner Taryn Oleson-Yelle also included in the packet, describes the creation of “15% Design and Engineering.” That means “concept development,” including a review of code, creation of floor plans, site master planning, aesthetic concepts and other early work. R&M will also provide project management, presentations, and a geotechnical investigation of the proposed site — the parcel that currently hosts Forest Acres Campground.

Having that early design work completed is required, Bickling told the council on Monday, to acquire certain state and federal grant funding. The city has missed out on funding opportunities because the project is not ready to get underway. The “15%” design, is the least amount of “ready status” that the city can provide and acquire those funds.

“If we have it at this place, it’s kind of an evergreen thing,” he said. “It shows the city’s commitment, that we do want this project to be done.”

Compared to the total cost of the project, Bickling said, $300,000 isn’t a lot.

Fire Chief Clinton Crites said during the meeting that he had been approached by state legislators and had to turn down funding because they couldn’t meet the qualifications, but that there are more opportunities coming in the future — “we definitely want to be in a ready state.”

R&M has committed in the fee proposal and to Crites to have the design work done before the start of the next Alaska Legislature, with deliverables to the city by January 2025.

Per the memo, the fire station is expected to cover a roughly 5-acre space of the parcel, with the remaining space potentially still being available for use as a park or smaller campground.

The council unanimously voted to adopt the resolution authorizing the agreement with little discussion.

A full recording of the meeting can be found at “City of Seward” on YouTube.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.