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Council reviews plan to relocate public works to former fire site; $343,045 amendment to cover shortfall planned
Summary
City staff presented a relocation plan to move public works onto the fire station property as part of a downtown development agreement with developer Chyros, outlined short- and long-term facility needs, and said staff will bring a $343,045 budget amendment to the next council meeting to cover a roughly $298,000 shortfall.
Scott Campbell, the city manager, told the council the relocation is driven by the city’s economic-development agreement with a developer called Chyros and reminded members of the 18-month timeline in that agreement for the city to relocate the public works facility. “We entered our agreement with a developer called Chyros,” he said.
Staff described operational constraints at the current public works site (about 14–15 city-owned acres) and the challenge of keeping stormwater, wastewater, streets, fleet, engineering and inspections close together while avoiding long-term leases. An internal committee reviewed options and a prior space-needs assessment found substantial additional square footage needs; staff said a long-term solution could cost roughly $12–15 million if it includes a new fire station and repurposing of existing buildings.
Short-term plan and costs: Glenn (public works) presented a short-term package estimated at about $1.8 million that includes a 4,600-square-foot modular office building, a new maintenance building for winter operations and the relocation of the fire training tower to preserve operational space. Glenn said modular offices could be ready by September and the maintenance building’s design is expected in April with roughly a six- to eight-month construction timeline.
Budget implications: Finance staff told the council the FY2026 allocation included $1.5 million in one-time general-fund money for the relocation, but moving the fire training tower created additional costs and an approximately $298,000 shortfall. “The total budget amendment will be $343,045,” finance staff said, noting that figure includes about a 15% contingency for unknowns. Staff said proceeds from a pending sale of a city parcel at Corinth Parkway and I-35 (about $325,000) will largely offset the cost so the council’s current-year fund-balance impact would be roughly $18,000.
Operational considerations: staff proposed placing public works on the property currently occupied by the fire station and training yard and moving the tower within the same site so public works and fire functions are separated operationally. Council members asked about training impacts, parking loss for training-class visitors, and operational sequencing; staff said those impacts would be managed and that moving the tower reduces smoke byproduct impacts on nearby plantings.
Next steps: staff will return on March 19 with detailed modular-building layouts and will bring the budget amendment for council action at the next regular meeting; no formal council action on the relocation was taken at the March 5 workshop.
