FRANKFORT, Ind. (May 20, 2024) – The Frankfort Board of Works gave the go-ahead to purchase 4 acres of land for $403,000 on the southside of State Road 28 at County Road 600 West. The land will be developed to house the City’s 4th fire station. The land purchase will be completed by Envoy as part of the City’s build, operate, transfer (BOT) agreement for the fire station build.
The decision made at the May 13th BoW meeting will allow Envoy to continue with its building design and develop a guaranteed maximum price for the overall project.
According to Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets, the need for the 4th fire station is to honor an agreement with NHK when the City was contemplating annexation of land west of Donaldson to west of I-65 & St. Rd. 28.
The agreement between the City and NHK – dated February 11, 2021 – regarded fire services to be provided by Frankfort Fire and contained language that waives NHK’s “right to remonstrate against or otherwise oppose future annexation” of their real estate. The agreement further states, “the City will not annex the Real Estate with an effective date prior to five (5) years after the execution of this agreement.” According to the agreement, NHK will pay a total of $84,121 in 2024 for fire services. The agreement states, “The payments are based upon the real property taxable value of the Real Estate and the portion of the City’s tax rate attributable to fire service.”
The mayor is hopeful NHK will annex earlier than 2026 adding, “We have not had any conversations since then (when the agreement was signed)… I would think that we would hear soon from them.”
The mayor continued, “Once they annex in, then that’s where it starts our two years to get a fire station out there.”
The location of the new, fourth fire station is controlled by the 2021 agreement; “[T]he City intends to construct a fire station west of County Road 450 West and in the vicinity of the interchange of Interstate 65 and State Road 28.”
Regarding the $95,000 per acre price tag plus fees, the mayor said, “Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I never dreamed of that. Never dreamed that we would have to spend that.”
The timeline for construction beginning is dependent on when NHK annexation is finalized in addition to Envoy design, building costs, and the bonding process.
