Mebane council moves to accelerate Station 4 design as budget gap persists

Mebane’s council signaled support for accelerating design of a proposed West‑side Fire Station — known in staff materials as Station 4 — during a fiscal‑year 2027 budget work session that also highlighted a roughly $1.7 million gap in the proposed spending plan. The session, led by Mayor Pro Tem (speaker 2), reviewed department requests and asked whether council wanted the Station 4 project moved up from FY2030 into FY27 for immediate design work.

Why it matters: Council members said growth in the western part of the city — including recent approvals for commercial developments and new subdivisions — has stretched emergency response coverage and could worsen response times without additional apparatus or a new station. Fire Department leadership (speaker 16) said the area north and west of existing stations currently experiences response times exceeding eight minutes and that a new station would “dramatically cut” those times.

Council debate and direction: Several members pressed staff to accelerate engineering and legal work so the city could begin design in FY27 and be positioned to start construction as soon as land access is resolved. One council member (speaker 6) said, “I personally think designing it in ’27 is a year late,” and urged moving beyond design to construction planning sooner rather than later. Administration (speaker 2) said the staff recommendation was to move the design funds up into the FY27 budget and to return with an accelerated plan; staff cautioned that actual construction timing depends on securing a site and finalizing agreements with external stakeholders such as NCDOT and the landowner.

Budget context: Staff presented the FY27 preview totals for the general fund — operating expenses of about $16.3 million, personnel of roughly $18.9 million and capital of about $3.7 million — and said the numbers currently show a $1.7 million deficit that still requires adjustments. Council members tied the Station 4 timeline to those fiscal realities, noting that construction would increase capital and staffing costs and might trigger future funding or tax decisions.

Next steps: Administration said it would accelerate study of site options and return with a plan for shifting design funds into FY27 if council confirms the priority. No formal vote or appropriation occurred at this session; council direction was to pursue an accelerated schedule and to continue refining the budget in upcoming work sessions on April 9 and May 4.