ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – A new fire station in Abilene’s Wylie area will be able to be voted in come November elections. The new fire station would help crews get to fires, in places like Kirby Lake, much quicker.

At Thursday morning’s Abilene City Council meeting, the council decided to move forward with the public safety issue.

Fire Station No. 9 was initially built into a multi-pronged proposal in which the city could also vote to build two new recreation centers, the fire station and a walking trail. The quality-of-life prongs will have to wait, most likely, until May 2023 elections.

“The public, they understand the fire station right now, the need for that, but the rec centers… So putting that off ’til May will give us quit a bit more time to educate. That’s the reasoning for that,” explained Councilmember Weldon Hurt.

Fire Station No. 9, if approved by voters in November, would cost about $8 million.