BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Greenhorn Station Housing is going swimmingly for the firefighters and first responders who call it home. The $3.2-million housing project is at capacity and while a major boon to the community, it stands, also, as a beacon of how crucial workers and critical personnel might be accommodated by the rapidly growing, recreational, mountain towns that make up Sun Valley.
“It’s all about ensuring that we have a response in that mid-Valley corridor,” Taan Robrahn, fire chief of the Sun Valley Fire Department, said about the location.
“It’s one of those things being centrally located mid-Valley, by the river and the bike path. It’s the best of all worlds. It really benefits people and the community to have first responders right there.” Chief Robrahn points out that they’d only projected to hit 50% occupancy but are currently at 100%.
Location is everything and what is often referred to as the ‘housing crisis’ specifically costs the community. Critical personnel and workers of all emergency services are often forced to find housing much farther south, resulting in greater wait times for response and mitigation in emergency situations where every second counts.
Priority was given to full-time firefighters and volunteers working for the city. The new tenants who call the housing complex home pay a monthly rent and must maintain all qualifications, training and call responses while living onsite.
Greenhorn housing was made possible by private donations, federal American Rescue Plan Act funds from Blaine County, the district and the City of Sun Valley. The complex consists of eight 870-square-foot prefabricated units situated on a 2.4-acre parcel leased from the Idaho Transportation Department.
Affectionately referred to as ‘Melrose Place,’ the vibe at Greenhorn is one of joviality, civic duty and just rights where the people who keep the community safe are better provided to do just that.