Waterury officials settle on fire station designs; now it's up to voters
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By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: February 3, 2010
WATERBURY – Waterbury officials have picked a design proposal for two new fire stations and also trimmed the proposed town budget in order to lower the tax rate to where it was last year.
The Waterbury Selectboard, with backing from the fire department, also has voted to start contract negotiations with DEW Construction Corp., one of the four construction firms that bid to build two fire stations for Waterbury. The decisions came during a three-hour special meeting Thursday night.
Another one of the firms, Neagley & Chase Construction Company, was still in the running last week, but the board went with DEW, which is based in Williston.
The total cost of the project is estimated at around $3.3 million, and will require approval by voters at Town Meeting in March.
Fire Chief Gary Dillon told the board that the firefighters unanimously supported the DEW design.
Firefighters thought the design "fit the community in appearance, and that's a big seller," Dillon said.
"They liked the design of both buildings," he said.
If DEW was not chosen, Dillon said, enthusiasm for the project could flag, especially since the fire department did not get its first choice in terms of where one of the stations would be built.
"If the board is not going to go that way, I think it's going to be difficult to go forward with this," he said.
The fire department's support for the overall plan has wavered in recent weeks. The fire department voted earlier this month to oppose the plan to have one of the fire stations on the edge of the village. One concern was the response times from that location, which is known as the Wells site, officials said. On Tuesday, however, the fire department reversed course and voted unanimously to back the plan that will now go before voters on Town Meeting Day.
Currently, there is a station on Maple Street in the town and another station on Main Street in the village.
The plan calls for a new fire station to be built on the existing Maple Street site and the other one to be built on the Wells site on Route 2 on the northwest edge of the village.
For the village station, DEW has proposed a two-story structure with five garage doors. The building would have clapboard siding and a brick façade to provide a "civic feel," the proposal says.
The town station would be smaller with three bays, would have arched doors like the village design, and would have clapboards and no brick.
The town will ask voters to fund the new fire stations to the tune of $3.3 million. Should the bond pass, the plan is to sell the existing village fire station – which is appraised at $381,000 – to either directly or indirectly offset the cost of the building project.
The selection of the fire station design and construction company is the latest in a long effort to replace what town officials describe as decrepit and inadequate fire stations.
Selectboard chairwoman Rebecca Ellis said replacing the fire stations is an idea that has been under discussion on some level for more than a decade and possibly as long as 17 years.
A major hurdle in this effort to replace the fire stations was cleared when the town and village voted in 2008 to merge fire departments. The town put a $5.8 million plan before voters that same year. That plan, which also called for two fire stations, passed, but residents rescinded the vote two months later.
Later this month, the town plans to hold a public informational meeting about the fire stations.
When it came to the town budget Thursday night, the board didn't nail down an exact figure but agreed to bring the tax rate down to .32 cents and made minor cuts to line items to get to that mark. That's the same tax rate as last year when there was a $2,212,965 budget, translating to $960 on a $300,000 property.
"I think if we keep it at .32, it's an easier sell for the fire station," said selectwoman Pamela Clapp.