LAFAYETTE, IN — Wea Township’s board members opened three bids to build a new bunkhouse on Tuesday afternoon as its trustee prepares to leave his position at the end of the year and the fire chief has announced his resignation in the coming days.
The township advertised the project’s price tag at about $500,000.
Trustee Jim Slaven denied the Journal & Courier’s request after the Tuesday afternoon bid-opening meeting to inspect the bids. Slaven admitted they are public documents and said the J&C may submit a written request to inspect them.
“I haven’t even seen them yet,” Slaven said. “They become public once we have reviewed them.”
The board will meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday in executive session to discuss the bids then will enter a 3 p.m. Wednesday public meeting to accept one of the bids.
There will be no public comments permitted during Wednesday’s public meeting, Slaven said, and none were sought during Tuesday’s bid opening.
The meetings will be at the township rec center in the 2000 block of Wea School Road.
John Parkinson of KJG Architecture in Lafayette read the names of the bidders, all based in Lafayette, and their bids aloud at Tuesday’s meeting: FH Paschen Construction, $954,000; Spencer Construction, $578,400; and Tritech Construction, $577,545.
The bids are for roughly a 1,000-square-foot bunkhouse attached to the southwest corner of the current fire station, and it will house five to seven additional firefighters, Parkinson said. It will not have any kitchen or living spaces; it is just a bunkhouse, he noted.
“It’s for volunteers that want to spend the night,” said Karen Cadle, Wea Township deputy trustee. She said it is not for paid firefighters working 24-hour shifts.
Parkinson said it is hoped the construction will be finished by January.
Slaven said the money was appropriated in the 2026 budget, but he declined to say specifically how much was set aside, saying they haven’t chosen the winning bid, so they don’t know how much taxpayer money the board planned.
Later, Slaven said they did not appropriate for the project, and the bunkhouse will be financed using fire accumulative funds. He said he didn’t know how much was appropriated in the 2026 fire accumulation fund without looking. After a short walk to Slaven’s office, where he could look up records, he said the board appropriated $1.123 million for the 2026 fire accumulative funds. He said the board estimated the bunkhouse would cost between $500,000 and $600,000.
“Two of the bids would fall within that,” Slaven said. “One bid was way out of that.”
Slaven lost his primary bid to run as the Republican candidate for trustee in November. Fire Chief Michael Stackhouse, whom Slaven appointed in 2024, recently announced his resignation.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Wea Twp. board eyes fire building project as trustee, chief on way out
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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By Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
