Pandemics, Payrolls, and Fire Fire Fire Fire
COVID was very good to the City of Springfield. Not the town, mind you, but to the City government. $44 million, 4 brand new fire stations, and a slew of salary increases later, the City Manager and Finance Director are still very confused about where they are STILL spending the ARPA money.
11/22/202510 min read
Covid was VERY good to the City Government. The town, not so much.
Springfield received $44 million dollar manna from heaven just in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The pandemic was very good to Bryan Heck. And the lucky employees who received 30%, 40%, sometimes 65% pay increases. And to everyone involved in all things fire (4 brand new stations and $5 million in added "fire payroll"). Maybe a nice gesture after the mysterious Villager Inn fire? He still won't tell citizens how much the insurance payment was for that fire. "It's still under investigation." Nobody's investigating shit. And they've already spent the check.
Because ARPA was so vague about how to spend the money, $18 million on fire stations, $11 million in water and sewer, $6 million on improvements to the underground parking garage for City Hal, and $12 million in homeless and housing is reasonable. An outside audit would be required to dig into the details, and because they've proven themselves to be sketchy in their comingling of funds (and everything else), an audit is definitely warranted.
But, the evidence reports to things not adding up around the sales of properties designated for the homeless and the salary increases.
And the primary takeaways how insistent Heck is on screwing the people in this town. He is insistent on never spending a dime on the citizens. New houses for new people. Fire for themselves. Downtown parking lot for themselves. Translation, special teachers and hospitals for the Haitians. It’s like he is driven to never spend money for the people who’ve paid for it. Road funds were frozen for NINE years, because he refused to do anything about it. The Don seems to have a vendetta. (I truly believe he does. He got super stomping foot mad about the town's questions during the national spotlight and can't stand that we keep asking for data. He and Rue sigh and groan and are both totally "put out" in every Commission meeting. And the result is that every single dime we taxpayers (federal, state, county, and local) go to his Syndicate or to the Haitians. Never the citizens.)
I'm going to try to do lists here, because it's so confusing tracking money when Heck and Eviston are involved. And they're always involved. (I imagine the image above to be how Heck and Eviston decide on how to hide and move money every day.)
Fire Stations
Fun Stats to Know and Tell:
The city of Columbus, Ohio, has a population of 933,263, is 226 square miles, and has 32 fire stations. One for every 29,164.
The city of Springfield, Ohio, has a population of 58,000, is 25.5 square miles and (now) 8 fire stations. One for every 7,250.
The city of Urbana, Ohio, has a population of 11,211, is 7.7 square miles and has 1 fire station. One for every 11,211.
I don't know the value of these comparisons since these are metro areas with a very dense population (high rises, etc., not standalone homes) but LA (city) has 106, Chicago has 96, Houston has 94, Pittsburgh has 30 (302,000, so 1 station for every 10,066 people in an urban area).
AI says, "For larger cities, a common benchmark is to have two to 2.5 career firefighters per 1,000 residents, while smaller communities may rely on a higher ratio of volunteer firefighters to meet staffing needs."
(Springfield Township and Clark County have their own fire departments. This is just a town. Not an urban city with dense areas, etc.)
All of the below either do not appear in the Clark County Auditor's parcel search website OR, if they do appear, they show ZEROS for sale prices and values and taxes. Why?
Station 1/HQ:
350 N Fountain
Station 2:
1715 W North Street (Fire Station #2 built in 2025 with $4,996,000 of ARPA funds)
Not listed here: https://springfieldohio.gov/fire-division/
Not listed in the Clark County Auditor's Parcel search (1715 W North Street)
SEE BELOW section for history on this one.
Purchased this property (Villager Inn) for $1.7 million of ARPA funds in Dec 2022 for homeless purposes for which it was never used.
Then in August 2023, there was a mysterious fire and quick vote to demolish it. No word in 2026 on the cause or insurance payment amount.
Then, put up for sale for $600K for the land.
Then, reversed course and announced in March 2024 that it would be used to build a new fire station.
Project Status: Construction has been underway since 2025, following a groundbreaking ceremony. Funding: A combination of local tax levy dollars, federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, and other sources. They have unused ARPA money that has to be spent by 2026.
Jason Via reported on the status June 2025 and said construction bids had fallen through, so it was a vacant lot for a while.
But no more! Image below in November 2025. (I believe it includes a police substation - whatever that is - but it's along the same lines as the $100 million jail for a town of 58,000. Should've been called the Americans to the Rescue for Anything You Want Act. Spare no expense when it's other people's "emergency" money!!
Station 3:
1401 Selma Rd
Not listed here: https://springfieldohio.gov/fire-division/
Listed in the Clark County Auditor's Parcel search but shows zero price and zero taxes - not blank, but zero
This was "too old" and sold in July 2024 to a Brittany Drake of Hen and Chicks LLC incorporated in 2021) for an undisclosed amount (Clark County Auditor's site shows zero price and zero taxes - not blank, but zero) who then sold to a Richard New of Wealthy Gardner Holdings LLC (incorporated in 2020) also for zero everything.
Station 4:
1565 Lagonda Avenue
Station 5:
Was at 1707 Commerce (but too old)
50 N Thompson expected to open late 2025/early 2026 (Fire Station #5 Projected Total Cost: The overall project is estimated to cost between $5 million and $7 million once it's finished.)
In November 2024, unanimously approved in the November City Commission meeting. Broke ground Jan 2025.
Commerce exists until new one is built? No parcel/sale/etc., info.
TBD - what will they do with 1707 Commerce?
Station 6:
3925 S Charleston Pike (new one built in 2023 with $5,842,137 of ARPA funds)
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/new-east-side-springfield-fire-station-opens-also-features-police-substation/52K74DWMN5GUXKWZENLCOFSROQ/
Station 7:
437 E Home Road
Station 8 before 2024 sale to Haitians
Was 735 W Pleasant Street
In Nov 2024, the Haitians bought the station at 735 W Pleasant and turned it into the Haitian Community Help and Support Center.
Clark County Auditor's site shows zero price and zero taxes - not blank, but zero.
AI results: In November 2024, the Springfield City Commissioners authorized the purchase of a former fire station at 735 W. Pleasant St. for $275,000. The Haitian Community Help and Support Center plans to use the building for its operations, including classrooms for driver's education and English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. The purchase was part of a larger plan to replace the city's aging fire stations with new facilities.
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/haitian-community-center-purchasing-former-city-fire-station-for-operations/PBJH7RDNNREM5GNO6YAOLD4IYQ/
Station 8 since 2024 sale to Haitians:
Is now located at 2040 S Limestone (new one built July 2024 with ARPA $)
This was a Wendy's, they tore down.
It's a working station now used by Clark State College to train fire people.
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-clark-state-celebrate-historic-fire-station-opening/SKUMALBHV5HMXM6HK2FP4NMRHA
Fire Payroll Increases
It's harder to know because some of them may have been hourly? I tried to pick people in ranking positions who I thought would be salary, though.
Brian Miller: From 2019 - 2023, in the same job title as Fire Chief, his salary increased $58,328 or 53%. His replacement was hired June 2023, but he still earned the 2nd highest paid spot that year with $167,884.
Jacob King: Hired in June 2023 for $70,275 (half year).
Brian Leciejewski: From 2019-2023, as Asst Fire Chief, his salary increased $48,323. 2022-2023 was $21,281.
Bart Berner: From 2019-2023, as Fire Captain, his salary increased $26,087.
Scott Ripp: Maybe he left in 2023? From 2019-2022, his salary increased $27,483.
Matthew Smith: From 2019, 2023, as Assistant Fire Chief, his salary increased $39,577. 2022-2023 increase was $14,887.
Charles Alexander: Did he leave 2023? From 2019-2022, his salary increased $27,917. 2020-2021, increase was $12,042.
Douglas Boggs: Firefighter, so might be hourly. From 2019-2023, his salary increased $22,634. 2022-2023 increase was $16,547.
Covid Funds, In General
Heck speaks often of the $44 million the town received in Covid funds. I haven't delved yet, because it's so daunting, but if he's quoting a number, you can bet it's not the complete picture. This isn't unique. It feels like the majority of Covid funds were misspent across the globe.
https://www.daytondailynews.com/investigations/billions-in-covid-aid/
https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/data-interactive-tools/dashboards-datasets
Here’s how local governments spent millions in CARES Act funds; Search by community (see screenshot at bottom of this page - for the $5 million spent on fire and police payrolls. We were locked down. Were the police and fire $5 million dollars more active?)
Covid Funds for the Homeless
The City got $44 million in just ONE of their many federal handouts (American Rescue, CARES, etc.). According to Heck, all the money went into what they call the "general fund", which means they spent however they wanted and to this day, have no idea how it was spent. Or can't/won't articulate it to anyone who financed it.
By October 2025, Heck is arguing that anything homeless or fire was handled with "general funds" not ARPA funds. He actually argues this. Even thought ARPA has been in every Springfield News Sun article headline since he started spending the money.
They claimed there was an uptick in homelessness due to Covid. So, they purchased two hotels for temporary housing. Then spent money demolishing properties around the land. Lucky for Heck, only Homefull responded to their RFPs (did they actually put out a valid request? no answer about that), so they could vote it down, forcing them to use the properties for economic development purposes - the original plan.
Heck admitted, "The plan for these two properties was always economic development." He just used the homeless and money (meant for emergencies around Covid) from taxpayers all over the country to do it.
And then there was a fire in one, that is still - 3 years later - being "investigated". They sold both properties at a substantial loss.
**How 1715 N Street Came to be a Brand New ARPA-funded Fire Station
In December of 2022, the city bought (using Covid money they had stored in the infamous "general fund") the Villager Inn on 1715 W. North St. for $1.7 million and the Executive Inn at 325 W Columbia St. for $2 million intending to redevelop the properties into short and long term housing facilities to address increasing homelessness.
On August 15, 2023, the Villager caught fire. A Springfield Fire division report found the fire began inside one of the rooms, though the cause is still unknown. “The immediate need is to abate the public nuisance and then we'll evaluate what those next steps are,” Heck said. “And that always includes public comment and public input as we look to move forward and do what's best and what's right for our community.”
On August 22, 2023, the City voted to demolish it.
Heck put it up for sale for the land for $600,000. No takers.
In early 2024, he decided to build the new fire station there.
In November 2025, investigation still pending. Bets on it being pending forever?
In November 2025, I submitted a Public Records Request for the insurance payment. The City still has not disclosed the amount of insurance recovered.
In 2023, Heck entered into a $1.3 million agreement with Homefull to provide homeless services at the Executive Inn. In 2024, they voted the contract down. In the October 21 Commission meeting (video below), Heck admitted that, " The long-term plan was always economic development. The property is across from the Regional Medical Center". When the year-long contract ended, the city put out a new RFP for a qualified operator and Homefull was the only respondent. "We decided not to move forward with them. Because we voted no, we are required by law to not use the property for the same purpose. If we did, that agency could litigate if we turned around and gave it to someone else. That space could not be used for homeless services once the contract was denied."
When asked about it being sold to CGP Acquisition & Development LLC (the Wawa developers) at $1.7 million (a half a million dollar loss), Heck replied, "Yes, that happens. Three houses behind there were demolished. Part of that is looking for revitalization. At the time it was purchased, it was able to be used - minor repairs were needed - but it could be used by Homefull and they did for a year." I guess his reasoning for selling it at a loss is the 3 "dilapidated" houses being removed and that the Executive Inn isn't usable - it would have to be torn down.
Fast forward to 2025 and Wawa has backed out (City won't tell us why) and Heck is committed to selling it to someone who will contribute to the "vibrancy of downtown".
I guarantee the property will be leveled soon and sold for land - pennies on the dollar, just like the Villager Inn property. Will they set fire to this one, too?
Housing Monies
October/November 2024: $1 million in ARPA funds to develop 8 affordable homes (Logan Cobbs didn't know the price or much about them in the November 4, 2024 Commission meeting 1:15:00 timestamp) with the Land Bank at Grand and Southern. Rue said, "What an excellent program". They voted unanimously yes. https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-land-bank-plan-housing-push-8-new-homes-coming-11-more-parcels-eyed/WCAKIU6XQBAZXJPPOBJPV4XGDQ/
