After a two-hour workshop on the Hoback Junction water system, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners on March 17 directed staff to include fire-suppression water supply in the Hoback Water and Sewer District buildout, specifying no fewer than two hydrants and at least 60,000 gallons of dedicated storage.

The decision follows extensive briefings from Fire Chief Mike Moyer, Nelson Engineering representative Tyler Ross, Public Works Director Heather Oberholzer and Rob Frodeman, chair of the Hoback Junction Water and Sewer District. Chief Moyer laid out current operational limits: Station 3 relies on a long-established 6,500-gallon cistern near the station and the nearest alternate water source is about four miles away, requiring a tender shuttle operation that can be lengthy in real-world conditions.

“The current cistern is 6,500 gallons; the next nearest supply is four miles away, which makes a tender shuttle operation an eight-mile round trip and creates response and turnaround delays,” said Mike Moyer, Fire Chief. He and other staff described the shuttle loop — fill, drive, dump, return — and said local response times and the ability to sustain firefighting operations would improve markedly with closer, reliable storage and hydrants.

Nelson Engineering summarized the county’s preferred option as two centrally located hydrant connections with about 60,000 gallons of underground, dedicated storage, which they estimated in preliminary work at roughly $800,000 for the additional fire-suppression elements (engineer’s estimate subject to final design and bidding). The firm said the proposed storage would support roughly 500 gallons-per-minute flow for two hours — the planning benchmark used for the schematic design.

Public works staff and district representatives described funding avenues already in play: the county previously committed $3 million to the broader Hoback water project; the Hoback district reported receiving roughly $274,000 from the Wyoming Water Development Commission for design and another $250,000 from local partners for design work. District chair Rob Frodeman said design completion is targeted for late 2025 with construction likely in spring 2026, and noted additional state and federal funding applications remain possible but not guaranteed.

Commissioners asked about alternatives and phasing. Several commissioners favored a single large cistern at Station 3 as a lower-cost interim option, but staff and the district argued the integrated hydrant-and-storage plan yields broader community benefit and better long-term protection. Nelson Engineering said a single 60,000-gallon cistern located at the station would likely cost in the $450,000–$500,000 range, but would not provide the same distribution and immediate access advantages as an integrated hydrant network.

Commissioner Prost moved to “direct staff to include fire suppression water supply with no fewer than two hydrants and no less than 60,000 gallons of storage in connection with the Hoback Water and Sewer District buildout.” Commissioner MacKer seconded. The motion carried unanimously on a voice vote.

The board and staff emphasized that final costs will depend on design and bids, that some construction funding is being pursued through the Wyoming Water Development Commission and state revolving-fund mechanisms, and that coordination with the Hoback Water and Sewer District will be required for long-term operation and maintenance.

The county will proceed with design and budgeting for the fire-suppression elements in coordination with the district and the project’s engineers; staff said the water-district design work will begin in April 2025 with the goal of bidding in late 2025 and construction in mid-2026, subject to funding and permitting.

Proponents said the change would improve firefighter safety and property protection, while several commissioners asked staff to continue pursuing grants and potential private contributions to offset county costs.

The board closed the workshop and directed staff to integrate the approved fire-suppression specifications into the Hoback build-out planning and budget work.