Muncie City Council questions financing, design and staffing plans for new fire station near Ball State

Muncie City council members spent much of the meeting pressing project presenters for details about financing, lease terms and staffing plans for a proposed fire station near Ball State.

The city’s fire chief told the council that Ball State had committed $1.5 million to the fire station project and that the university is increasing its fire protection service fee to $300,000 a year, but he said "there has not, as far as I know of, there's been no negotiations with Ball Hospital at this time." The chief also described a dollar lease for two years under which the city would pay roughly $400,000 in renovations so firefighters could stay on site for 24‑hour shifts and the developer would retain the building after the lease ended.

The council pressed for hard numbers. "The amount of bond that was remaining after the issuance cost of the financing was 8,425,900," Jeff said, and he reported the final cost of station 6 as $7,948,063.22, leaving $477,836.78 under the original budget. Jeff said that contingency money is retained for fire‑department projects or debt repayment, not as a discretionary general‑fund surplus.

Why it matters: those figures determine how much of the $11.5 million agreement with GM Development the city will need to cover and whether pledged outside funding reduces that amount. Presenters said the timing of Ball State’s pledged funds is not finalized; if applied up front it would reduce the city’s net exposure, but any reallocation of excess funds would require council approval.

Presenters also described the planned station’s layout and capacity. They said the building would be two stories with four longer apparatus bays and living quarters above; they provided square‑footage figures — 7,875 sq ft per floor plus a 1,562 sq ft mezzanine, for a total of 17,312 sq ft — which they said is several thousand square feet larger than the referenced station 6. The design will include two stairways and a fire pole.

On staffing and operations, presenters said the goal is to eventually staff the station more fully; they cited the department’s paramedic internship program as a source of additional personnel and said they would like to have a minimum of eight people at the station every day when fully staffed. They also described plans to stage ambulances and EMS supplies at the location so vehicles servicing Ball State can restock and return to service faster.

Labor and training: council members asked about labor standards. Presenters confirmed the intent to use union and/or local labor on the project. They described Hagerman, a contractor used on previous work, arranging a paid high‑school internship in which the intern received a union wage on a prior station project; speakers framed that as a positive precedent for local workforce development.

Outstanding items and next steps: presenters emphasized that bids will be sought to drive costs down and that some budget items remain contingencies. Council members repeatedly asked for clarity about when Ball State’s $1.5 million would be applied and where any recurring Ball State payments would be allocated — the presenters said those allocation decisions will be negotiated with the administration. No formal vote on project funding or reallocation was recorded in the transcript. The meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn; the transcript does not show a formal roll‑call vote on adjournment.