The Rock Township Ambulance District and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office will soon be able to provide more efficient service in Imperial and the surrounding area, said officials with both agencies, who expect to move into a new shared building by the end of the month.
The agencies held an open house Oct. 29 at the building, 3057 Lions Den Road, which will be home to Rock Township’s House 5 and the Sheriff’s Office’s Seckman Valley Substation. Sheriff’s Office Maj. Andy Sides said approximately 200 people attended the open house.
“We were very pleased with the turnout, and it was nice to speak to some of the nearby residents,” he said.
Plans to construct the 14,569-square-foot building started in August 2022 when Rock Township purchased the 6.4-acre property for $260,000 from the Dierks family. In December 2022, the Jefferson County Council voted to approve an agreement allowing the Sheriff’s Office to share the cost of designing and building the facility.
A groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction for the new building was held in April 2024, and the project is almost complete, Rock Township Chief Jerry Appleton said last week. He said just a few items, like some electric work, need to be finished before an occupancy permit is issued for the facility.
“It took a little longer (to complete) because we had a lot of weather delays early on in the project. I think there were like 70 weather days, which put us behind by a few months,” he said. But, the building is nice, and the process has been good.”
Appleton said the design and construction costs appears to be under budget, coming in at about $300,000 less than the projected $7.75 million budget. He said the ambulance district and county have not received the final bills for the project.
He said Rock Township will pay about 60 percent, just more than $4 million, of the design and construction costs, and the Sheriff’s Office will pay about 40 percent, just more than $3 million, of the costs.
Appleton said the ambulance district will pay its portion of the costs with funds from a $23 million bond issue voters approved in 2018. Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said the county’s share of the construction costs will be drawn from the Sheriff’s Office reserves.
“This project has been in the works for a couple of years now, and we are happy it has finally come to fruition,” Marshak said. “I think the community is happy with it as well.”
Taking a look
Laura and Ronald Lauders, who live in a subdivision near the facility, said they have been watching the progress since construction started.
“We were very happy that we got to come down and see the facility,” said Ronald, 80.
Laura, 65, said she is happy to have an emergency medical service and law enforcement facility close to her home.
“I am at that age when I may need something like this,” she said. “I have never seen the back of an ambulance, and I have never called 911. I got a lot of information (at the open house). We don’t mind paying taxes for this.”
Rick Lamborn, 67, and his wife, Judy, 59, who live in the Jefferson County portion of Fenton, said they are glad the facility will open soon.
Lamborn briefly served on the Rock Township Board of Directors. He was appointed to the board in October 2024 but lost a bid for a full term in April, when Lynne Ruzicka and Paul Horn, both of Arnold, were elected to the two open seats.
Lamborn said he did not vote on any decisions about the facility while serving on the board, but he believes the shared facility is a great idea.
“It is a good use of resources, with it being a joint effort, and it is a nice space for our public servants,” he said.
The building
The ambulance district will occupy about 7,683 square feet of the building, and the Sheriff’s Office will house a substation in about 4,680 square feet. The two entities will share about 2,051 square feet of common space. The building will include a training room, which will be available for community members to use for meetings and events.
Appleton said Rock Township will have a crew of three – two paramedics and a supervisor – at the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He said the house will reduce the amount of time it takes for Rock Township to respond to calls in the Imperial area.
The district’s House 1 is at 2455 Hickory Square Parkway in Arnold; House 2 is at 2250 Konert Road in the Jefferson County portion of Fenton; House 3 is at 1501 Prehistoric Hill Drive in Imperial, and House 4 is at 6707 St. Luke’s Church Road in Barnhart.
“It takes about 9 minutes for ambulances to get here from other locations,” Appleton said. “You can anticipate cutting that response time in half. Not all of our calls for 911 are truly life-threatening, but when they are, minutes matter. If you can get to a call in under 6 minutes, that is your goal. This area lay outside of that before, and this will be a great asset to the area.”
Marshak said the Sheriff’s Office is still deciding when the substation will be staffed and what times it will be open.
“I think the Seckman Valley area will see a noticeable increase in law enforcement presence,” he said. “This is a growing area with a lot of residential activity. The Seckman schools campus (at 2800 Seckman Road in Imperial) will have law enforcement resources close by.”
Marshak said the facility will allow the Sheriff’s Office to store a Mobile Command Post, two SWAT trucks, radar trailers and more equipment in one location.
“The reality is we have struggled with growing problems for a long time,” he said. “This is just some of our equipment that is now under roof, and we are not borrowing space from somebody else. For us, it was a worthwhile investment and the cost share made sense.”
Future
The Seckman Valley Substation will replace the Sheriff’s Office East Zone substation, which has been housed on the Windsor C-1 School District campus in Imperial for more than 20 years.
However, Marshak said the Sheriff’s Office will maintain a presence on the Windsor C-1 campus, 949 Windsor Harbor Road, in Imperial.
He said he believes more Jefferson County agencies will look to form partnerships for shared spaces like the Imperial shared facility in the future.
“Public funds are limited, and it’s essential that we find smarter, more efficient ways to deliver quality service,” he said. “Strategic partnerships represent the future of effective government as they allow us to combine resources, reduce costs and address challenges collectively. “Considering our firearms range challenge, a collaborative effort would be a cost-effective solution that strengthens capabilities while saving taxpayer dollars.”