The Dearborn Heights City Council on Wednesday approved Site 2A on Beach Daley for a new North End fire station and authorized staff to begin the design phase, after public testimony and an extended council debate over flooding risk, prior assurances about the city-owned golf course and firefighter living conditions.

Councilman Hassan Saab, who moved to approve the site and start design work, framed the vote as a public-safety decision. "Saving someone's life, saving a kid out of a fire, and having a fire station there is worth more than the whole entire golf course combined," Saab said during the debate. Several residents urged the council to move forward, including Ben Strepkowski, who called the existing station "obsolete" and urged the council to site the new station on higher ground, and Angela Venegas, who said, "public safety is at risk."

The vote followed sustained public comment from neighborhood leaders. Leila Alsane, president of the Gulfview Manor association, who led a recent site tour, told the council she supports Beach Daley (Site 2A), saying the parcel would leave substantial golf course acreage intact and would not prevent the course from operating in reduced form.

Opposition centered on two themes: a pledge some council members said they previously made to keep the golf course land as green space, and lingering concerns about possible flooding at the proposed location. Councilman Robert Constant urged caution, saying that when the council previously approved use of the golf course land he "stood my ground and my word" that he would oppose anything other than green-space uses; he said he still supports firefighters but worried about downstream effects of building on the open space.

Saab and other supporters said independent testing and engineering had been completed and that the site can be built to avoid flooding; Saab said a full geotechnical test typically costs about $115,000 and said testing had been done by an independent firm. Council members also discussed funding: speakers noted the city has approximately $10 million set aside that could be used for the project, and members said portions of that total could be applied to land acquisition and construction.

Council discussion also touched on process and deed restrictions. One member asked whether a future deed restriction limiting uses of the parcel could be approved by the council; city staff and council members noted restricting future uses of city-owned land would generally require a deed restriction and, depending on the restriction, voter approval.

The motion to approve Site 2A and authorize initiation of the design phase passed and the clerk recorded that the motion "carries." The council directed staff to proceed with design work and to return with required documents and next steps.

The decision ends months of public debate that included site tours and competing resident testimony about safety, flooding and use of the golf course. Council members and staff said additional engineering and design work will come back to the council as the city moves from concept to final plans.