The first public compressed natural gas fueling station in the Miami Valley will be in the city of Fairborn.

Fairborn City Council approved 5-2 Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio’s request to build a public CNG fueling station at its Fairborn site, 1135 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road. Councilmen Jim Hapner and Robert Wood voted against it. The discussion lasted nearly two hours before a standing-room-only crowd.

Vectren operates a CNG station at that site to serve its own private six-vehicle fleet, so this location makes sense for expansion because it already has the appropriate infrastructure in place, company officials said.

There are no current plans to expand beyond this project, said Colleen Ryan, president of Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio.

Of Vectren’s six operational centers in southwest Ohio, the Fairborn site is the only one that has a CNG station. It will be only the 13th public CNG station in the state.

“If you want to put Fairborn on the map, put one in Fairborn,” Ryan said. “It’s a great thing to do for the community and the state of Ohio.”

Ryan said there will be minimal impact to traffic and the condition of roadways. Vectren expects the public CNG fueling station to average 10 vehicles a day, mainly service and trash-sized trucks.

The station is expected to be open to the public as early as the summer, barring any unforeseen delays or regulatory issues. The cost of the expansion for Vectren will be about $900,000.

“I’m not so sure there’s a hidden agenda by Vectren,” said Hapner, who questioned Ryan about the monetary investment. “I don’t think it’s a wise business decision.”

The unmanned CNG station — accessed from Trebein Road — will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On-site surveillance cameras will be monitored at Vectren’s headquarters in Evansville, Ind.

The project had already been delayed a month in order to answer concerns raised by citizens who live just north of the site. Those concerns included safety, traffic flow and the location of the proposed site.

“I look at it as Vectren making an investment in Fairborn,” Councilwoman Marilyn McCauley said. “It’s not how much taxes we’re going to get or how many jobs it’s going to produce. It’s an investment in the future of this city and the businesses in the city.”