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Wayne County approves lease with U.S. Air Force for EMS Station 12 near Seymour Johnson
Summary
The Wayne County Board approved a long-term lease with the U.S. Air Force to build and operate EMS Station 12 on Elm Street adjacent to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, funded in part by a HUD congressional grant and expected to cut heavy call volumes at nearby city stations.
On Feb. 18, 2025, the Wayne County Board of Commissioners approved a lease of up to 50 years with the U.S. Air Force to construct and operate EMS Station 12 on a one-acre parcel on Elm Street near Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The motion passed 5-1.
The vote follows months of negotiation with base leadership and a HUD congressional project grant that the county said will cover a little more than $2,000,000 of project costs. County staff told commissioners the station is intended to lower call volume and response times for heavily used city districts and to improve response capability to the military base.
County EMS staff presented call-volume data showing the existing city medics were carrying large caseloads in 2024: Medic 6 responded to about 4,500 calls, Medic 4 about 3,500 and Medic 5 about 2,800. Staff said Station 12 is projected to pick up roughly 37% of calls from Station 6 and 25% from Station 4 in the affected area, normalizing workloads across the city system and improving response times.
Under the lease summary presented to the board, the county will relocate a segment of the perimeter fence and construct a secured site adjacent to the visitor center; EMS vehicles would still access base incidents through the main base gate. The lease term is 25 years with a 25-year renewal option, and the county will not pay rent or other compensation to the federal government as consideration for the site. The county will fund construction and fence relocation; staff said procurement will use a design-build contract to accelerate delivery.
County staff said an environmental assessment being performed by on-call engineer CDM Smith is nearly complete and that, once finalized, the county plans to begin design procurement this spring and move to construction. Staff estimated a construction schedule of about eight to 12 months once work begins. Commissioners noted the project will also be supported by federal funds that procured replacement ambulances arriving later in the spring.
The board substituted the lease approval into the formal motion: “approve a lease for up to 50 years with the United States Air Force for construction of EMS Station 12 subject to approval of the county attorney.” The motion carried 5-1; individual roll-call votes were not read into the transcript.
County staff identified next steps as finalizing the HUD grant administration kickoff, addressing the environmental assessment, and procuring design-build services.
Ending: With the lease approved, staff said they will finalize the environmental review, begin design work this spring and seek awards for construction under a design-build approach; a staff estimate projects facility delivery within roughly a year after construction begins.
