The town will soon begin soliciting feedback from residents on which of two locations they would prefer to see as the site of a new fire station.
Council President Jim Letterie said a questionnaire is ready to send to residents providing information about the two potential sites, the old middle school and the Walden Street basketball courts, and asking them to choose a preferred site.
Letterie said a potential debt exclusion vote to pay for a new fire station will not be on the November general election ballot, but will likely be the subject of a special election at some point after the November election, most likely in the spring.
Last November, voters rejected a debt exclusion to fund a new fire station at the Wadsworth Building site near the current police station. The two current firehouses in use by the town are both over a century old.
“The questionnaire will discuss, relatively briefly, two or three paragraphs, a synopsis of each location,” said Letterie. “It will also include cost estimates of each location and it will ask simply for your choice, A or B. We will take that information obviously to heart and look at it deeply; the council will ultimately make a vote as to when we would put a firehouse debt exclusion on a special election, hopefully some time in the spring.”
Town Manager Tony Marino said the town will be using all the media outlets available to it to get the questionnaire out to residents. He said the town will put out a reverse-911 call to direct people to the questionnaire on the town’s website.
“Obviously, that will be the primary one, you will be able to do it there,” said Marino. “We’re going to attack with social media sites, my town manager’s blog. We might even, depending upon costs, look upon some flyers to send door to door if we feel our numbers are slagging.”
Marino said the town will get the word out to the senior center and other locations where people may not use online media as much.
“We’ll also be providing some computers here at the senior center, if people want to come in, they’ll be shown how to get to the website and do the survey and answer any questions,” said Marino. “Certainly, anyone can call my office if they have any questions before they vote.”
Marino said the survey itself incorporates feedback he has received from the council, the fire chief, and others.
“I think we have it narrowed down pretty well,” said Marino. “We did incorporate the costs as we were asked to do into the spreadsheet itself. It does show the location on the site where the buildings would be proposed, additional parking that would be proposed, everything that we have shown at prior meetings.”
Letterie said the survey does include detailed information, including the cost of relocating the Walden Street basketball courts to Ingleside Park, as well as the cost of the demolition and asbestos remediation at the old middle school site.
“It’s pretty comprehensive, it will break down the prices, it includes a contingency, it includes an escalation considering that this would not start until the fall (of 2026) or fall of 27,” Letterie said.
Precinct 2 Councilor John Munson asked if it would be worthwhile for the council to have a roll call vote to express the councilors preference for a fire station site before the questionnaire goes out.
Letterie said he would have no problem discussing it if councilors felt comfortable and knowledgeable enough of each location to give their viewpoint.
“Councilors are always welcome to give their viewpoints,” Letterie said.