On July 8 Los Banos Interim City Manager Gary Brizzee, Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Dorenbush and Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Elms updated the public on two public projects and asked for suggestions on another.
The two projects are Fire Station Four and the old Police Annex building. The meeting was held in the Los Banos Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m.
According to Dorenbush’s report, Fire Station Four is planned to be built by early 2027 on the west side of the city on the yet-to-be-finished western extension of Stonecreek Boulevard, just southwest of Walmart. The fire station will be roughly 8,000 square feet with an emergency operations center (EOC), roughly 5,000 square feet, coming in at a total cost of $11.5 million.
Dorenbush explained that the station will be built to be able to expand or even cohabitate with other agencies like Cal-Fire or the county fire department. There will also be training grounds built into the site. The interior design of the station is a “clean station.”
Dorenbush elaborated that the decontamination and “dirty” rooms are kept on one side of the engine bays, and the living and “clean” areas are on the other side to keep cancer rates down from firefighters tracking in hazardous materials from fires.
The EOC is meant to act as a regional operations center in the case of local disasters, such as a Pacheco Pass wildfire, flooding or even the San Luis Dam breaking.
Dorenbush explained, “The EOC has the capabilities of being able to facilitate a large incident for a very long time. So being that we’re an island fire department on an island city, we’re kind of on our own. When something big happens, for example, an earthquake, and it shakes Los Banos, we’re on our own. The EOC is where we’re going to go for all of our essential needs.”
Dorenbush and Brizzee explained that Fire Station Four is being built before Fire Station Three because of its location. “Based on our research, the city is moving west…That’s where most of the growth is currently,” Dorenbush said. He assured the public that even though Station Four is a higher priority, the plans for Station Three’s construction in the east of the city are still underway.
Citizens attending the meeting asked questions and commented on the funding, how future residents will be affected, consultation with experts and the use of renewable power.
The project is currently fully funded, thanks in part to a $5 million grant from the state for the EOC, secured with the support of Assemblywoman Esmerelda Soria and State Senator Anna Caballero, and funds from Los Banos’ Measure P.
There will be a sound wall to protect local houses from the noise. Solar panels will not be included in the initial design but may be added in the future. The fire station was designed by a fire chief and with the help of Vanir Construction, who has experience in the industry.
The former Police Annex building, at 535 J St., is planned to become the Development Services Center, according to Director Elms, bringing together multiple departments in the city under a single roof to allow individuals and developers to get everything they need at an efficient one-stop shop.
The floor plan presented at the meeting was preliminary, but it did show workstations for staff from community and economic development, public works, the building department and the fire department distributed throughout the approximately 9,000-square-foot, two-story building.
Elms explained that the Los Banos City Hall is practically bursting at the seams, and the plan is “essentially moving a whole half of City Hall staff out of the City Hall building in anticipation of growth.”
According to Elms, the building was once a bank, with one potential meeting room being located within one of the vaults. Previously, the building had served the police department before the construction of the new police department building on G Street. The building did have asbestos and lead, which were all removed in a soft demolition.
They plan is for the building to last for 50 years with a rough cost of $6 million. Residents also asked about the city hall being replaced. Elms assured the public that it could still last the city 50 years with some renovation work.
Residents asked about having county offices located in the building, too. Elms said it hadn’t been discussed, but it could be a good idea.
The last item at the meeting was ideas for what to do with the old police department building and two adjacent houses that made up the property.
Brizzee highlighted his past with the building and talked about the rough state of the building with leaks, cracks and many needed renovations.
Director Elms described the building as having “yucky old bones.”
In a hand vote, of all 27 attending, 14 expressed their opinion that it should be demolished. Zero voted to renovation and re-use, zero voted to sell the whole property, and the rest voted for other options. Generally during the discussions, residents and staff wanted to preserve the house at 424 J St. but demolish the rest.
There wasn’t a consensus on what idea to follow up on, but generally, residents wanted to preserve some form of the architecture from the old police department. Ideas included an EMS center, a covered plaza for mixed-use events, a park, a new library, a public-private partnership, an aquatics center, or even a splash pad and jokingly, a new Starbucks.
