A project that the Grand Fire Protection District has planned for since 2004 could begin soon.

Grand Fire owns five acres on County Road 40 and work is underway to get the fire district’s north station built there. With building season on the way, Grand Fire Chief Brad White told county commissioners on Tuesday that the fire department is looking to get groundwork and infrastructure started this summer.

White wanted to discuss making the station an “all hazards facility” if any other parties — like Grand County Emergency Medical Services — were interested.

“Now’s the time to have that discussion before the facility’s already built,” he said.

White added that Grand County Search and Rescue has expressed interest in the project, as has the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. The location could also house equipment for the Headwaters Rescue Authority, the multijurisdictional water rescue group new formed in Grand.

However, Grand County EMS Chief Robert Good explained that the location, which sits off of US Highway 34 between Granby and Grand Lake, doesn’t make much sense strategically for his department.

“Staffing it from my EMS is not a good strategy at this point,” Good said. “The call volume’s not there. We try to gravitate where the call volume’s at.”

Good said that the majority of EMS calls come from the east end of the county. That’s where he’s most interested in adding staffing, as compared to the Grand Lake area, which he believes has sufficient coverage for the relatively smaller number of calls.

However, the question lingered about EMS’s needs 5-10 years from now as development continues to grow in the Granby and Lake Granby areas. There was also some discussion about helping fund the project in exchange for space at Grand Fire’s existing station.

White explained that with development underway in the River Run and Granby Ranch areas and the overall growth of Granby, the north station would provide a strategic location for the fire department on the other side of the district to help with response times.

With no pressing deadline and a number of details to work out, commissioners said they were appreciative of the collaboration and directed staff to continue discussions.