What: moving the proposed fire department campus, including a training facility, from a previously identified 6th Avenue site to a site on Broad Street through an amendment to the CDBG-DR Action Plan (see CDBG-DR Action Plan Amendments).
Where it stands: the resolution was on the agenda read at the 2026-09-29 meeting and discussed at length. The city has already spent about $1.6 million preparing the original site. Members said the item is waiting on an answer from HUD and may be deferred indefinitely.
Next: a HUD answer; the item was expected back at the October 7 meeting.
Sources
City Council meeting video and transcript, see the meeting page below.
The District C member said he opposes a fire training facility in his residential district, citing propane, noise and safety concerns, and that he would like another use for the site.
Two nearby residents spoke in favor of building at the original site; they said the facility is a simulation with a propane tank in a tower, no burning of trash, and training that starts mid-morning five days a week.
Another member said the facility could save roughly $250,000 to $300,000 a year in out-of-town firefighter training and could earn training fees; he asked that members not give residents inaccurate information.
Members disagreed about what residents had been told, and about the rule for letting speakers address an item that is on a later agenda (a two-thirds council vote was cited).
One member said the item is being held because HUD has not answered, not because of any dispute over the design.