Victor fire house to open

Extract from the Teton Valley News

Posted: Thursday, May 12, 2011 9:12 am Rachael Horne TVN Staff.

The Teton County Fire Protection District is hosting a grand opening of the newly remodeled fire station in Victor on May 26.

Fire Chief Mike Hoyle said they will now be able to respond much faster and provide better service to the south end of the county. The Fire Department is now able to house two firefighter/ EMTs seven days a week and 24 hours a day at the Victor station. Hoyle said they were able to do this with the current staff they have in place.

The station already housed a truck and several pieces of equipment, but Hoyle said they relied tremendously on volunteers to respond to an incident. The remodel has provided housing and a place to fix meals. Being in Victor will decrease response times. Hoyle said it currently takes them about 10 mintues to respond and used Victor Elementary as an example. He said now instead of 10 minutes, they can get there in one minute.

The station remodel was funded with money received from several organizations to mitigate the impact of development in Teton County. The remodel was completed by the firefighters currently employed by the Fire District.

Currently there is a staff of about 20 firefighters/EMTs.

When development was booming, there was talk of setting up a fire house in the north end of the Valley, but Hoyle said that's been put on hold for now.

The open house is being held on May 26 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. Children are encouraged to attend and see the fire trucks. Firefighters will also be on hand to answer any questions. Refreshments will be served.

New city center planned with land purchase

May 04, 2011
By Jeannette Boner - Re-posted from The Valley Citizen

The Victor City council will entertain a land purchase agreement for the old depot and surrounding property next Wednesday evening, May 11. Photo illustration/Google Maps



There is a picture of the Victor Depot hanging in Bill Knight’s office at Victor City Hall. Within the frame, the black and white photo, taken around 1915, is a snapshot of history and an identity by which Victor become known as: the end of the line, a place to come home to. But perhaps as well, this is also a picture of what may again redefine the south end. By looking at the past, could the old depot play a larger role in the city’s future?

“The depot is the one of the most iconic buildings in the valley,” the Victor City Planner said on Tuesday. “The point is, you look at a town like this and the theme for decades is that it was a railroad town. The idea was to get this back into the public sector.”

The Victor City council agreed, voting unanimously last Wednesday evening, to negotiate an offer to purchase the old depot and surrounding land with the overall plan that the building will become the city center complete with municipal offices, an interpretive center, public parking, and street and sewer upgrades.

And resting against an easel just below the black and white photo is the beginning of those plans.
Overlaying a map of the city are drawings that Knight presented to the council that officials hope will encourage new business and economic development for downtown. Knight added that this project would not distract from Main Street but reinforce it.

“This is a big project to get this back into shape,” Knight said of the building that is currently used as an apartment complex. “Hopefully as this develops it will spread throughout the city. This is a development project and was always intended to jump start business.”

This idea was born more than a decade ago when city leaders, under former mayor Don Thompson, dedicated an economical development fund with the anticipation that the city would use the money for a business park. City Clerk Craig Sherman said with property prices at a reasonable rate, the idea for the city center was feasible. Although plans for reconstruction have not even hit a professional architect at this point, purchasing the building and the land is the first step in the process. In true Victor style, having all the plans in place as proven successful such was the case for the ice arena and transit center at Pioneer Park.

The purchase price of the depot is a commercially appraised value of $416,000 and includes the depot and 2.2 acres of commercially zoned property. The city has about $200,000 in its economic development fund and will plan to borrow money from other city funds said Sherman. Additionally, the project will fall under the newly established Urban Renewal District for the city. Tax revenue captured through the revitalization project will go back into the project.

Next Wednesday the city council will entertain the purchase contract from current owner, Wilson resident John Wasson. The meeting will be at city hall May 11. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. with the land acquistion starting around 8 p.m.

After the city purchases the property, they will take over the building becoming essentially landlords for those who are currently renting apartments in the building. Knight stressed that due to the long term planning that is needed for this project, no one is in danger of losing his or her living space in the near future.

After next Wednesday’s meeting, Knight said the next step is for an architect to render a prospectus that could be used to secure grants, state and federal funding for the project.