Denison's Fire Station No. 4 planning stays tied to Preston Harbor growth

Denison's special-called City Council budget workshop on June 26 included a project-update discussion covering the fire department, capital improvements and organizational priorities, according to the meeting's posted agenda, which did not list Fire Station No. 4 as its own item. Separate city financial and planning records tie the planned Station No. 4 to expected growth at the Preston Harbor development, the area the station is being planned to serve.

The city's fiscal year 2025/2026 budget links the station's design funding to Preston Harbor. In that budget, the city places the design money under Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 2, which it identifies with Preston Harbor, and lists a transfer for a line it labels "2025A Station 4 Design."

A City Council packet from February 2026 drew the same connection. The packet states that a new ambulance was approved for the new Station No. 4, and that the ambulance and its equipment were meant to support upcoming growth at Preston Harbor, according to the document.

Denison has also carried the project into procurement. Through a 2025 request for qualifications, the city sought architectural design and related services covering the design and construction of a new Fire Station No. 4 and a remodel of Fire Station No. 1.

The planning dates back at least to the city's June 28, 2024 budget workshop. Minutes from that meeting say Fire Chief Kenneth Jacks discussed future fire-station needs and identified the project as "Station 4 - Preston Harbor." He told council members the design work would take about six months and construction 12 to 18 months, according to the minutes.

Those minutes also describe what operating the station would take. Staffing Station No. 4 would call for 21 new firefighters, plus a quint, an ambulance and other apparatus, the record says. The minutes note the apparatus had already been ordered because delivery could run up to three years.

The public records reviewed for this report do not include a Station No. 4 timeline, bid award or construction start date presented at the June 26 workshop. The posted agenda confirms only that fire and capital-improvement work was part of that budget-workshop discussion.