The City Council Committee authorized a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Tennessee Department of Military to locate a new Fire Station 1, a headquarters training tower and motor-vehicle storage on a parcel adjacent to the National Guard Armory.

City staff and Fire Chief Beeman explained the move as a long-term response to an aging Fire Station 1 that has reached the end of a typical 50-year building service life and is constrained for expansion. The proposed new station site — a portion of state-owned National Guard property near Old Airport Road and Hartsville Pike — would allow Gallatin to relocate Fire Station 1 further east to balance emergency coverage across the city and create an on-site training tower for live training drills.

Under terms discussed in the meeting, the state will convey use of the portion of armory grounds for the fire facility in exchange for exterior improvements the city will make at the armory (vehicle storage, parking and related site work) rather than a purchase price. The MOA contains a reversion clause: if the site is no longer used as a fire facility the parcel and improvements revert to the state. City attorneys and staff noted that the reversion term was nonnegotiable.

Chief Beeman presented an illustrative station concept with four drive-through bays, a two-story living/administration plan sized to house 13 staff, and a training structure using repurposed containers and standard live-fire training capability. He described the proposed package as fiscally preferable to building a separate new station (Fire Station 6) while also avoiding major renovation costs for the existing aging Station 1.

Council voted in favor of the MOA resolution. Staff said design and procurement work, and the site improvements required by the MOA, will follow normal engineering and procurement processes. The city estimated a project budget in the range discussed at the meeting (concept-level figures) and said the exchange avoids the immediate cost of purchasing property while requiring the city to complete specified armory improvements.

Why it matters: The MOA secures a long-term site option for a modern fire station and hands-on training capability while preserving a path to recapture the land if municipal needs change. The arrangement shifts much of the work to the city’s capital program and requires careful fiscal planning for construction and site work.

What happens next: Staff and the fire department will proceed with design, detailed cost estimates and procurement; the council approved moving the MOA forward.