New $19M station located in Spanish Peaks club becomes Montana’s first-ever RID-funded fire station
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
Big Sky will soon benefit from an additional fire station for the first time in more than 25 years as a 10,000-square-foot, $19 million facility “represents the most significant investment in Big Sky Fire Department’s fire infrastructure history,” according to Big Sky Fire Chief Dustin Tetrault.
On Thursday, June 5, Tetrault and his BSFD comrades celebrated the groundbreaking of their third station, located at the primary entrance to the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club. The station will “greatly strengthen” BSFD’s ability to serve Spanish Peaks, and the surrounding community by reducing response times and expanding overall coverage, while and enhancing mutual-aid support to the Yellowstone Club and the independent YC fire department, Tetrault explained. He emphasized that non-club residents in nearby areas will see the same benefits of improved service.
It’s expected to take 18 months to construct the new facility.
“This station is more than a building. It’s a symbol of community commitment, public safety and planning for the future of Big Sky,” Tetrault said in a speech. He noted that the station is designed for firefighters’ safety, performance, health and resilience.
BSFD has been looking to construct a third station in the Spanish Peaks area for nearly a decade, including a point when negotiations “completely stalled” until BSFD and Lone Mountain Land Company settled on a new, unprecedented funding scheme: a rural improvement district, or “RID.”
A Montana first
RIDs are county-operated special districts that allow a specific rural area to fund and manage local infrastructure improvements. Property owners within that specific area—in this case, the boundary of the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club—pay assessments to fund those infrastructure improvements.
Big Sky will now be the first-ever Montana community to construct a new fire station using an RID, making Thursday’s ceremony “a historic moment,” Tetrault said.
“This achievement is a direct result of the taxpayers within the rural improvement district here in Spanish Peaks, who stepped forward and said ‘yes’ to enhanced public safety, faster emergency response, and meeting the needs of a rapidly growing community,” Tetrault said. Montage Big Sky will pay for their portion of the RID assessments, and LMLC will cover the fees on not-yet-developed lots until those properties are eventually sold.
The fire station may bring significant return on those taxpayers’ investment. Tetrault explained it will help close existing gaps in Big Sky’s ISO insurance coverage by increasing proximity to the nearest fire station and improving protection.
It may also result in lower insurance costs for property owners.
Tetrault thanked BSFD board members, former fire chiefs Greg Megaard and Bill Farhat, and local partners including LMLC and the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club for donating three acres of land, plus $1.25 million in cash, to make the project possible. “This has been a long, long project.”
Matt Kidd, president of Lone Mountain Land Company, agreed the project has been a long time coming. He noted that unlike many infrastructure facilities, the fire station will be highly visible along South Fork Road—which connects Big Sky to the Yellowstone and Spanish Peaks clubs—and in view of the Spanish Peaks entrance.
“This is an amenity building to be celebrated by the entire community,” Kidd said in a speech. “This is a really big deal.”
Kidd thanked the members and owners of the Spanish Peaks community for their financial commitment to improve community firefighting infrastructure. He also thanked Big Sky’s firefighters.
“You guys keep us safe, every day, and we really appreciate all that you do. So, from Lone Mountain Land Company, from Spanish Peaks, to the Big Sky Fire District, thank you guys.”
