MUNCIE, Ind. — Alison Quirk, longtime member of the Muncie City Council, announced Monday night she was resigning her position as one of the at-large representatives on the council.

“I’ve been through a lot in the last few months personally and it’s time for a break,” Quirk said.

Quirk has served on the council for 16 years, saying that while she was stepping away for now, she would be back in some capacity with city government after some time away.

She said there have been many projects she’s been happy to have had a part in during her four terms as city council member.

A wide array of projects like the massive undertaking of the the downtown hotel to the combined animal control were a few of the highlights Quirk named. She also cited small projects that she said had big impacts, like the quiet zones for the city's railroad crossings.

“I just need to take a bit of time to focus on my family,” Quirk said.

The Democrat party has been notified of Quirk's resignation and will have 30 days to fill the seat. Quirk had some parting advice for her replacement.

“Over this time I’ve witnessed a lot, and the best advice I could offer is to be part of the solution," Quirk said.

In other council news, members of the committee that oversaw a special meeting of the city council told the rest of the council that there was no opposition to the pullout of the city/county 911 operations center agreement. This came after the special meeting last week to hear concerns from the public on the issue.

Council members who sat on the committee for the meeting were Jerry Dishman, Julius Anderson and Brad Polk. All said that there was little to no opposition raised by the public during the meeting.

Polk said they need to know more about the separation to alleviate fears and uncertainty circulating in both the government and the public.

“I thought we’d have more banter back and forth,” Polk said of the meeting.

The council will hand the process back to the mayor's office and commissioners.

Also, an ordinance shifting leftover Public Safety Local Option Income Tax funds that was debated during the January meeting passed the council 7-2.

Council members Dan Ridenour and Brad Polk voted against the ordinance.

Council voted to pull funds from the LOIT that the Muncie Fire Department had earmarked for new gear.

Fire officials were asking for upwards of $300,000 to outfit the department with a second set of “turnout” gear, which is the protective gear that firefighters wear while on scene. Instead, the money the department had hoped to use would be shoring up payroll.

Council member Nora Powell wanted to clarify that the money was not being used for the general fund. Instead, she said, money being moved from LOIT was offsetting line items in payroll for the police and fire department.

That still didn't appease fire department officials.

Muncie Fire Department Chief Eddie Bell said that he was disappointed by the outcome from the council, saying that council should have warned the departments about holding onto LOIT funds and that they would be moved if not used.

Bell said that the money wasn't ever meant to be earmarked for payroll, but instead was supposed to stay in the fund for future capital expenses.

The fire department has said they were confident even if there were issues with grant money coming through that they could still find a way to purchase the turnout gear.