Iowa City dug into a new project Wednesday — its first fire station in more than three decades.

Funding for the new building is secured, but Iowa City city councilors said they still have no set way to pay the nine new firefighters who will be employed at the station, though they’re leaning toward using a possible franchise fee.

Staffing costs have delayed the project for decades, and many said Wednesday’s groundbreaking represented a collective sigh of relief.

The station will cost roughly $4 million and is partly funded by a $2.3 million grant from the state’s I-JOBS Local Infrastructure Program. Construction is expected to be complete by July 1, 2011.

State and city officials, including Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, grasped gold shovels and donned white hard hats to lead the ground-breaking ceremony.

“Today, we’ve turned a concept into reality,” said Fire Chief Andy Rocca told the crowd. “It’s a great day in Iowa City — it’s 2009, it’s finally here.”

Iowa City Fire Department officials started to discuss building a fourth fire station before Rocca joined the team in 1978.

“I was a younger man when we started this discussion,” he joked.

The station will be located at 2008 Dubuque Road, near the intersection of North Dodge Street and Dodge Boulevard. The new station will increase emergency response time in that area of town, officials have said.

But Rocca acknowledged there are more challenges to face — notably personnel funding — before residents can welcome new firefighters to the community.

“The bigger issue is how the city plans on paying for staffing issues,” he said.

Mayor Regenia Bailey said officials are “moving forward” with the franchise fee, which would tax residents’ and businesses’ Mid-American Energy utilities by up to 5 percent. Bailey said it’s the only option the council is considering to fund extra firefighters. The revenue could also be used to hire more police officers for an understaffed department, she said.

A public hearing on the fee is set for Nov. 2, when the council will take residents’ concerns into consideration.

The tax influx has concerned some residents, who say it could be a dangerous route for the city to take.

But some residents around Dubuque Road said they’re glad to see the fire station’s construction begin.

“I’m very happy,” said Diana Baculis, a resident of 30 years who said the noise and response time for fire trucks has been a problem in the past.