By Adam Swift
The Fire House Building Committee held its second meeting Monday night, focusing on the timeline for building a new fire station as well as highlighting the conditions at the current headquarters and Shirley Street fire houses.
Town Manager Tony Marino also provided an update on the eminent domain process for the potential taking of the Wadsworth Building and Kirby Funeral Home by the town.
A debt exclusion proposal is expected to go before voters at the November municipal election for the project, which would see a new fire station built on Winthrop Street.
A number of residents have raised concerns about the eminent domain process, which would necessitate the moving of several businesses at the Wadsworth Building, including the longstanding Meat Market.
As part of the eminent domain process, Marino said the town would pay the owners of the two buildings, as well as be responsible for covering the moving costs of the tenants within the buildings.
Marino said the town has continued to talk to the Meat Market owners and other building tenants about plans for moving them to another location in the town. He said there are tentative numbers for the cost of the eminent domain taking to the town, but that it was too early to put that number out.
“We’re in the process now, but the number fluctuates depending on the landlords and the tenants, so we don’t want to put that number out there yet,†said Marino.
The town manager said he’s also had conversations with the Meat Market owners about their future in the town.
“I don’t want to go public, yet, but we will shortly, it will be in the next few weeks,†said Marino.
Marino also laid out the timeline for building a new fire station if the debt exclusion vote passes in November.
“Right now, we have a feasibility study with Kaestle Boos architects, they are doing the overview of the building, what it could look like, and why the (current) sites don’t work,†said Marino.
The first step if there is a positive vote is to hire an owner’s project manager to oversee the project, as well as an architect that will complete more detailed plans.
Once the town gets full drawings, the project would be ready to go out to bid, Marino said.
“That usually takes from eight to 10 months,†said Marino.
The most likely scenario is that the demolition of the existing buildings on Winthrop Street would take place next fall with construction beginning in the late fall to winter of 2024.
In other business, Fire Chief Scott Wiley presented a video produced by WCAT highlighting the deficiencies at the current Pauline and Shirley Street stations.
Both stations were built more than a century ago for horse-drawn fire apparatus, and Wiley said there have been limited updates since then.
The chief pointed out issues with the lack of storage, myriad code issues, and mold, water, asbestos, electrical wiring, heating, and rodent problems at both stations. Wiley also pointed out that the department is limited in the fire apparatus it can store within the station bays and the lack of training and sanitary facilities in both buildings.
Wiley also appointed a public relations subcommittee, consisting of Town Council President James Letterie, Josh Costellano, and Karen Chavis.
As part of the public relations outreach, the FHBC is drafting a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) brochure to be distributed to the public.
Town Councilor Stephen Ruggiero was among those who encouraged the FHBC to use all avenues available to get out information about the project and the debt exclusion vote to the public. “A lot of the questions that we heard tonight, and a lot of the questions that the committee talked about are sort of the same questions we have been hearing since the initial presentation to the council,†said Ruggiero. “We have to cast a wide net to communicate…we have to reach out to the 12,000 voters we have