Residents and commissioners press Bay City to repair, reopen Fire Station 5 and address staffing

Residents and commissioners urged Bay City officials on Sept. 15 to repair and reopen Fire Station 5 and to address a shortage of full-time firefighters after public comment described the station as closed "quietly" in July 2024.

Judy Brenner, a member of the Northwest Citizens District Council, told the commission the station on Smith Street closed without notice and said the reasons given were "lack of staffing and mold and mildew due to a leaking roof," which she described as the result of "poor management, lack of vision, and neglect of a city asset." Brenner said the closure left the Wilder Road, Truman Parkway, Industrial Park and the Banks area at risk because rail crossings and bridge closures can isolate that corridor.

Brenner also said that, prior to a change to a public-safety model, the city had roughly 60 full-time firefighters and currently had about 23. "To date, the number of full time firefighters is around 23 which is not adequate to keep all 4 fire stations open and staffed," she said. Brenner and other speakers urged the commission to repair Station 5 and hire more full-time firefighters; she said the coordinating council had passed a resolution to use Marquette Industrial Park TIFA funds for repairs and that the city manager requested an architectural review expected to be completed in October.

Commissioners reiterated concerns about station conditions and staffing. Commissioner Coakley said Station 2 handles about 2,500 calls a year and described the need to "focus on that." Commissioner Teddi, who said she toured Station 2, added a health concern: "the PFAS levels there are through the roof," and said firefighters "certainly deserve better." The commission asked the city manager for more information on available road and other funds that could be repurposed for public-safety needs; the manager said the city had a separate secondary-roads fund of about $5 million and that staff had previously presented options to the commission.

Paul Kleinau and other speakers also urged the city to reassign funds to pay for fire-station repairs and staffing; Kleinau said simply, "Please reassign the annual contract that is going to flock for the fire stations. That's all we need to do. The money is right there." City staff said an architectural assessment of Station 5 is expected in October and that staff would follow up with the commission on TIFA funding and repair estimates.

The meeting record shows discussion and public pressure but no formal motion or vote to allocate funds, reopen Station 5, or hire new firefighters. Commissioners proposed options including revisiting grant opportunities, bond financing, and exploring smaller, lower-cost apparatus to improve response capacity; Commissioner DeWitt described examples from other municipalities of smaller rapid-response vehicles that cost substantially less than full-size fire apparatus.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff to deliver the pending architectural review of Station 5 in October, clarify whether TIFA funds approved by the coordinating council remain available for repairs, and provide commissioners with the status of the secondary-roads fund and other potential funding sources.