Updated Fire StationProject Website Goes Live

By Adam Swift

The town’s website with information on the proposed $38.5 million fire station at the old middle school site on Pauline Street is active and has been updated with new information on the project.

Voters will be asked to approve a Proposition 2-½ debt exclusion for the project during a special election on Saturday, April 5. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the election, which will also include two override questions regarding the school budget.

The website is winthropfirestation.com, and there is also a link to the site on the town’s website.

The website provides information on the background, rationale, considerations, and community involvement related to the project. There is information about the condition of the town’s two existing fire stations, plans for the new building, and the financial impact of the override on homeowners.

“The website is completely up and running now,” said Fire Chief Scott Wiley. “The numbers are all accurate, the interactive finance page is accurate. If anybody hasn’t been to it, it will tell you exactly … there is a link to the assessor’s page, you can type in your address and it will tell you your exact assessed value.

“Plug in your exact assessed value, and it will tell you not only what your annual cost for the project will be, but your quarterly cost for the project,” the chief continued. “It goes on to give you an update on the debt exclusions that are coming off the rolls in the future during the lifetime of this debt exclusion.”

Wiley said there is also a tab on the website for anyone who has questions about the project.

“Somebody on the firehouse committee will get back to you right away,” said Wiley.

Anyone who wants to host an informational coffee hour on the project can also request that through the website, he added.

There are currently two coffee hours that are on the schedule and will be open to the public, Wiley said. One is this Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. in the function room at Seal Harbor 3. The second is on Tuesday, March 25 at 1 p.m. at the senior center.

At Monday’s firehouse building committee meeting, Town Council President Jim Letterie reviewed the details of the question residents will be asked to consider during the special election on Saturday, April 5.

“It’s a $38.5 million debt exclusion that we’re asking for,” said Letterie. “The thought is to pay this off in 25 years instead of 30, like it’s a typical home mortgage, and the savings to the town by doing that is roughly $8.4 million.”

The average assessed value of a home in Winthrop today is $697,305.

“Based on that property, this cost would be roughly $495 a year, roughly $135 a tax bill, a quarter,” Letterie said. “This would not start, the full impact of this, that $135 a tax quarter, would not kick in until Jan. 1 of 2028. There would be some early anticipated (bonds) that would go out … to pay for demolition and such, but the full borrowing would not take effect until fiscal 28.”