Fort Hall FD announces $7M grant to replace outdated station
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FORT HALL — The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes announced Wednesday morning that after receiving federal assistance, the lone and outdated Fort Hall fire station will be replaced.
A $7 million grant for the development of a new station comes from the Community Project Funding appropriation, according to Congressman Mike Simpson.
Simpson, a driving force for the grant coming to Fort Hall, was in attendance when the announcement was made and accepted an invite from members of the Fort Hall Business Council and Fort Hall Fire Department to return for a ribbon-cutting — though a timeline for completion is not yet set.
“These are your tax dollars,” Simpson said to the dozen or so who gathered for the event. “Either we direct them, how they’re going to spent, in Idaho — who they’re going to go out and help — or they’re going to go to some other state, or some other locality.”
As Simpson explained, this appropriation does not add to federal spending, rather it dedicates a portion of an existing account to needed community development projects.
“This funding is going to address the inadequate facility needs of our Fort Hall Fire Department,” Shoshone-Bannock Manager of Public Affairs Randy’L Teton said.
That sentiment was echoed by Fort Hall Fire Chief Eric King, who called fire stations community cornerstones.
A cornerstone, he said, that should represent the “how strong, how dedicated, how reliable” that community is.
“This station truly does not reflect how strong, how dedicated, how reliable the contents within the stone really are,” he added. “This station has seen better days.”
The department, King added, outgrew the small station long ago — despite housing a crew of just 22 full-time employees while serving a massive chunk of Bannock and Bingham counties.
A new station, he continued, will aid the Fort Hall community in its overall growth.
Business council chairman Devon Boyer thanked the championing efforts of Simpson, saying that the Fort Hall needed the improvement but would not have been able to afford it on its own.
Simpson said he appreciated the praise, but that they were not necessary. It is his duty, he said, to assure that his district is provided the means for necessary improvement.
“Some people think that that’s wasteful spending. Anybody who thinks that ought to come and see what we’re funding with these projects.”
