Madison County Fiscal Court approved a professional engineering services agreement for a proposed Northern Madison County Fire Station on Nov. 12, authorizing the judge executive to sign the contract with Solid Ground Consulting Engineers PLLC. The resolution (2025‑112) passed after an extended discussion about how a new northern station would affect response times and insurance‑rating coverage for county residents.

Judge Taylor and the county’s Fire Chief explained the site selection process and presented GIS‑based coverage maps developed with county staff. "That location took in more residential rooftops to help more citizens than anywhere we found in that area of the county," the Fire Chief said, describing studies of candidate sites across the northern corridor and why the chosen site best captured underserved rooftops.

Several magistrates relayed constituent concerns that moving or adding a station in the north could lengthen response times for other communities such as Waco and Newby. Judge Taylor said the county will preserve the overall footprint through mutual aid and automatic aid agreements with Richmond and volunteer departments, and noted the county may maintain equipment at some existing stations. "We're not changing our ultimate footprint," he said, adding that the county has invested in GIS tools to model road‑mile response coverage.

The court moved and seconded the resolution and approved the engineering services contract by roll call. Magistrates suggested the county conduct public presentations showing the coverage maps and invite affected residents to review the data; the chief offered to follow up with citizens who requested more detail. The resolution authorizes the agreement and directs county staff to proceed with project engineering and procurement steps.