photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners met on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.

Douglas County commissioners have approved the location for a new fire station in northwestern Lawrence, aiming to close coverage gaps and improve emergency response times in the area.

On Wednesday, county commissioners voted 4-0, with Commissioner Shannon Reid absent, to approve 555 Stoneridge Drive as the location for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical’s new fire station, also known as “Station 6.” The site currently houses a water tower and is near the intersection of Sixth Street and George Williams Way. Lawrence city commissioners had already approved the location during their meeting on Tuesday, as the Journal-World reported.

County Commissioner Karen Willey said that when it comes to improving emergency response in Douglas County, a topic that has often come up in conversations is how the county can better cover rural areas. In a map shared with commissioners at the meeting, LDCFM showed the location and all of the areas it could respond to within a 10-minute drive — and that doesn’t just include areas in northwest Lawrence, but also areas to the northwest and south of the city limits. The area shown on the map even reached as far northwest as Lecompton.

LDCFM had specifically intended to address two coverage gaps, in the areas in and around northwestern Lawrence and southern Lawrence.

photo by: Screenshot

The location of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Station 6, 555 Stoneridge Drive, is marked on the map to the left with a star. The light blue areas could be reached from the station in four minutes, while the dark blue ones could be reached within 10 minutes.

“I do think the northwest is the more needed of those,” Willey said. “Those are always hard decisions.”

The total estimated cost for Station 6 is $12.9 million. The city and county plan to share the expense, with the city covering 64% and the county contributing 36% — the same funding ratio used for LDCFM operations under their shared governance agreement.

Douglas County commissioners recently approved the 2026 budget, which included providing LDCFM an additional $1.1 million to help maintain EMS service levels and support the addition of a fully staffed ambulance for Station 6. This decision was primarily because the City of Lawrence told the department that it would need to meet a target of around $1.5 million in budget cuts.

The building will be 12,983 square feet, which is smaller than previous designs, and part of the reason for the smaller station is to stay under budget. The station is designed to feature several office spaces, three drive-thru bays, 10 private bunks, four toilets and showers, a kitchen/dining/dayroom area and more.

The city is planning to finalize the design of Station 6 in 2026, with construction set to begin in 2027. The fire station is expected to be fully operational by 2028.

In other business, county commissioners:

• Authorized the county to join the Kansas City Regional Resource Sharing Agreement, which is intended to improve the coordination of emergency resources, personnel and services from different jurisdictions in the Kansas City area. It covers the following other counties in the KC area, on both sides of the state line: Platte, Clay, Ray, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, Johnson, Jackson, Miami and Cass.

According to a memo in the agenda, the agreement improves regional emergency readiness by clarifying roles and responsibilities; enabling cross-state support without a disaster declaration; supplementing existing agreements; and allowing flexible sharing of both traditional and non-traditional resources, such as public information officers, logistics personnel and recovery planners.

• Adopted a Mutual Aid Resolution that will allow Douglas County to send emergency aid to other jurisdictions even before a formal emergency declaration has been made.

In 2002, the county passed a resolution that permits it to provide assistance, but only if the jurisdiction requesting the assistance is under a formal emergency declaration. Douglas County Emergency Management now believes this requirement is too restrictive, as some emergencies need a faster response.

“Emergencies can evolve rapidly, and in some cases, assistance may be needed or provided prior to (when) a formal declaration is issued,” Robert Bieniecki, director of Douglas County Emergency Management, said in a memo to commissioners.

• Authorized the county administrator to sign a memorandum of understanding outlining how the county and Friends of the Senior Resource Center Inc. will work together to operate the Douglas County Senior Resource Center. County commissioners had previously approved a plan for the Senior Resource Center to transition from a nonprofit to a county department.

When Douglas County takes over the center’s operations, which is expected to happen on Sept. 29, the current Senior Resource Center nonprofit organization will take on a new role. It will take the name “Friends of the Senior Resource Center,” and it will engage in fundraising and other efforts to support the county-run department, which will actually provide the center’s services and programming. The agreement will detail how these two organizations will cooperate and what each one’s responsibilities will be.

The Senior Resource Center is currently at 745 Vermont St., and the county will try to assume the lease and provide office space for the Friends organization. If it is not able to do that, it will consider other options.

• Approved a request to rezone approximately 20.27 acres at North 1700 Road from AG-1 agricultural zoning to AG-2 transitional agriculture zoning. The zoning will allow the property to be divided into two parcels, around 10 acres each. The applicant plans to sell one of the parcels for development of residence, a memo in the agenda said.

• Approved Douglas County Adult Community Corrections, Juvenile Community Corrections, Immediate Intervention Program and Juvenile Intake and Assessment year-end reports. These reports are sent to the Kansas Department of Corrections each year, outlining each program’s progress, challenges and modifications.

• Approved an agreement with Catalis for Land Records Management Software upgrades from an on-premises system to a cloud-based platform hosted by the county’s existing provider. The agreement is for five years of support in the amount of $199,112.