Fire Station Cost Prompts Questions From FinCom

ORLEANS – The proposed capital budget for the next fiscal year includes $62.2 million in spending at the coming spring town meeting, with the bulk of that cost covering a new fire station.

 The select board and finance committee went over the new capital budget for fiscal 2027 on March 4. 

 A design is currently being readied for a new fire station at 56 Eldredge Park Way. Finance Director Darrin Tangeman said that current estimates for a new station call for $47.7 million in “hard costs.” An additional 25 percent of that figure was also factored in for “soft costs,” he said, resulting in an overall $59.6 million project cost.

 Richard Berdik of the finance committee said he was “taken aback” by the anticipated cost as well as the size of the proposed station. He asked if the figure took into account the projected $13 million the town will save by not having to move fire operations out of the current station during project construction.

 Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan said the fire station building committee on March 2 reviewed a plan for a 37,000-square-foot facility with an “outbuilding” for additional storage, and said there will be savings in not having to temporarily move fire services.

 “It was a great meeting,” he said. “I think we have comfort that the engineering team, the architect that provided us with the soft cost as well as the hard cost numbers, is what we’re going with.”

 Tony Pearl, the finance committee’s liaison to the fire station building committee, said he was also surprised by the number. But he said the station is being built to fully meet the needs of the department.

 “I felt very comfortable that the two firms, the construction and the design firm, were very good, knew what they were doing and were speaking from experience,” he said. “So I felt much more comfortable at the end of the meeting than I did at the beginning.”

The town is seeking to fund the fire station construction through a debt exclusion. But while he said a new station is needed, Ed Mahoney of the finance committee raised concern about the financial impact the project will have on taxpayers.

 “I think it’s absolutely necessary,” he said of a new station. “The fire people and the EMTs do an exquisite job for our community. But we have to understand that it’s costly; $3.6 million is going to hit the taxpayer when this comes online.”

Galligan cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the estimated figure, noting that the project has not yet been put out to bid.

“We just published this,” Mahoney said, referencing the $59.6 million figure that appears in the warrant for the annual town meeting.

“It’s not a bid number,” Galligan said.

Tangeman said that a consultant will work with the town to structure the debt on the fire station project over the next 10 to 20 years. 

Elsewhere in the proposed capital budget, projects listed under vehicles and equipment include a new vehicle for the recreation department ($50,000); two vehicle replacements for the police department with “radios, terminals and shield systems” ($186,000); the replacement of a dump truck and sweeper for the public works highway department ($680,000); and the replacement of a 2019 Chevy pickup for the natural resources department ($76,000). The fire department is also seeking to replace three vehicles at a total cost of $395,000.

 “A lot of these vehicles have either five or 10 years,” Tangeman said of the fire vehicle requests. “It’s usually more about the hours that are on these vehicles rather than the miles themselves.”

 Of the requested spending for vehicles and equipment, $611,900 would be funded through taxation, with the remaining $825,700 coming from free cash.

 The list of capital projects for May under building and facilities include a roof replacement for the senior center ($350,000); townwide building and facilities repair and maintenance ($203,000); public landing improvements ($50,000); Main Street design and reconstruction ($500,000); and funding for the community building at 44 Main St. ($50,000).

 The remaining building and facilities projects outlined in the capital budget would again be paid for through taxation ($203,100) and free cash ($950,000).

 Tangeman said the $203,000 itemized for building repair and maintenance is the first of what will be a series of annual appropriations toward the effort, and that the request could vary in subsequent fiscal years. 

 “It’s there right now because it’s been a generally accurate number for what we’ve been doing in terms of repair and maintenance for our facilities, just trying to maintain them at the minimum level,” Tangeman said. 
 Newman said that funding for the project was approved through a stabilization override at a prior town meeting.

 The capital budget also includes a slate of projects that will seek funding through town meeting in the fall. Those include the replacement of chest compression machines for the fire department ($120,000); tasers ($35,000) and body worn cameras ($260,000) for the police department; the replacement of a moveable wall in the senior center ($60,000); additional funding for 44 Main St. ($450,000); and painting at town hall ($250,000).

 “We’re worried about wood damage, so we really want to get a person out here to get a look at the condition and get the right price,” Newman said.

 The select board and finance committee were set to continue budget discussions in a joint meeting on March 18.