San Jon to receive fire station grant

The village of San Jon learned Wednesday it will receive a $750,000 federal grant to build a second fire station north of Interstate 40.

Village Treasurer Toni Stoner said during a phone interview Monday the village found about the Community Development Block Grant during a New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration hearing.

The village had submitted a CDBG application last year that was rejected, she said, then revamped and resubmitted this year.

Stoner said a second fire station had been a high-priority item on the village’s wish list for years.

“If the overpass is shut down, it’s hard for our firetrucks to get anywhere north of town,” she said.

She added that I-40 and the overpass sometimes are closed because of snowstorms or accidents.

The new fire station will be located just off Highway 469, north of I-40. The second, existing fire station within the village will remain open.

Stoner said the new fire station will contain four bays and be about 4,000 square feet, which is a bit smaller than the existing station.

She said village officials will meet this week with Formative Architecture of Albuquerque to negotiate an agreement on the grant. Once the paperwork is approved, the firm will request construction bids for the project.

Stoner said groundbreaking likely will occur in the spring.