By HANNAH GUNNELL
Bargersville Fire Department Chief Eric Funkhouser signed a purchase agreement Wednesday to purchase four acres at Division Road and SR-135 to build a fourth station to serve the community’s south side.
Funkhouser said the department has been hoping to build a station down there for years.
“We’ve been actively pursuing land in that area for the last year or so and we were fortunate enough to find somebody who had land for sale there and work with us,” Funkhouser said. “We’ve always wanted a station in the southern part of our district because we have areas that take 15 minutes to get out to. This will cut our response time in half.”
The department serves a fire territory that covers 72 square miles in Johnson County, including the Bargersville, Waverly, Hopewell, Bluff Creek, Stones Crossing, Mount Pleasant, and Providence communities, according to its website.
“This will reduce those response times by a lot in the future,” Funkhouser said. “We’re pretty excited and we’re really looking forward to it.”
BFD purchased the land for $270,000. This is money the department had budgeted over time.
With the land secured, the department is now working on the design phase and financing piece of the new station, “Station 203.”
“The hope is to be up and running in the first three years if everything works out fine,” Funkhouser said.
There is not yet an estimated cost on the new facility, but BFD is working with its longtime financial advisor, Reedy Financial Group, on options for financing, which could include a bond or a build-operate-transfer agreement.
Funkhouser is excited to see his department grow with the surrounding communities. It has already grown tremendously since he started with BFD in 2006 — he was one of 6-8 full time employees, and now the department boasts 70 full time plus 50 part time employees.
“We’re seeing growth levels incomparable to other places,” he said. “I think everybody is starting to realize Bargersville will be a hot commodity in five years. I’ve been here since 1999, so 25 years now, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
