Tom
02-28-2007, 12:39 PM
Dec. 19 2006 recommendation
A study committee is recommending that a combined police and fire facility be built just behind the existing fire station.
The recommendation presented Tuesday night, Dec. 19, is made possible by the committee's finding that all existing and planned buildings can fit into the downtown municipal complex.
Appointed by selectmen, the committee will deliver its recommendation to the board in January. In the absence of its chairman Bill Ryan, the committee members did not vote after their public hearing Tuesday night, but their remarks made it clear they like the plan.
Member Tom Bowen, who opposed the plan last spring for a standalone police station on Robbins Road, said given that the department needs new quarters, the combined facility downtown makes the most sense. "It's the most cost effective," member Jack Conroy said.
Selectmen appointed the committee after voters shot down the plan for a Robbins Road police station in June. The expectation is that the new combined proposal is headed for a Town Meeting vote in May and a spot on the June town election ballot for an override vote.
"At the end of the day, the taxpayers will decide," Bowen said.
Greg Carell, the committee's consultant, said Tuesday night that with the plan still very preliminary, he's reluctant to offer a cost estimate. Pressed for an answer, he indicated construction could run $14 million, plus more than $2 million for design, engineering and furnishing.
Conroy noted the committee took another look at Robbins Road, but a standalone police station there still looked pricey.
Committee members said that Police Chief Richard Stillman and Fire Chief Timothy Bailey are on board with the combined facility plan. Stillman said that he wants to make sure that as design progresses, there's enough space to meet his department's needs.
In the sketch presented Tuesday night, police would get 18,000 square feet in the 40,000-square-foot facility. Stillman noted the Robbins Road plan envisioned a 24,000-square-foot police station. Carell responded that some of the drop is offset by a shared conference room, dispatch area and entry.
Selectmen Chairman Joseph Denneen said what gets built has to be adequate to meet the departments' needs for at least a generation.
The fire station has to be located downtown. Beyond that, other locations such as the Superfund site on South Street, have disadvantages. Members noted that the new plan is just about what the selectmen's municipal facilities study committee recommended three years ago.
The committee focused on whether there is enough space in the municipal complex for a combined facility, and members Tuesday night were pleased that they concluded that it can fit.
The plan allows the police and fire departments to remain in their existing buildings until the combined facility is ready for them. Conroy noted that Norwood had to spend heavily to relocate its departments while a new facility was built on their existing location.
The plan, Carell said, leaves about the same number of parking spaces as now, but arranged rationally. Members said the plan makes for a more attractive downtown.
Stone Field gets diminished -- but because of the planned senior community center, not the fire and police building. Denneen noted there's a sketch showing enough space for a Little League field on what would be left.
The plan calls for parking in the area now occupied by the fire station and its big apron onto Stone Street. The new station would face a widened Blackburn Drive, the now ill-defined roadway between Stone and East Streets.
With several firefighers and police officers in attendance at the hearing, that arrangement brought some questions.
The existing fire station apron provides room for firefighters to angle their trucks onto an often congested Stone Street. The Opticom system at the nearby intersection of Stone and Main gives green lights to apparatus. Engines would have a much tougher time making the tight swing from Blackburn Drive into backups on Stone or East, and there are no traffic lights and Opticom at those corners, an audience member noted. Carell responded that such concerns will be addressed as planning moves forward.
Conroy noted that the planned library remains at the corner of Stone and School Streets -- in part because changing the site would jeopardize the library's state construction grant. The senior center site stays put between Blackburn Hall and Stone Field in part because advocates want a firm location to present to potential donors.
Selectman Al DeNapoli proposed that Blackburn Hall be torn down to allow the senior center to be located closer to Stone Street. Blackburn Hall, he said, is very expensive to maintain and its uses could be easily transferred.
But members of the audience said that tying in the demolition of a Walpole landmark would kill any plan for a police and fire facility -- the voters would never go for it.
A study committee is recommending that a combined police and fire facility be built just behind the existing fire station.
The recommendation presented Tuesday night, Dec. 19, is made possible by the committee's finding that all existing and planned buildings can fit into the downtown municipal complex.
Appointed by selectmen, the committee will deliver its recommendation to the board in January. In the absence of its chairman Bill Ryan, the committee members did not vote after their public hearing Tuesday night, but their remarks made it clear they like the plan.
Member Tom Bowen, who opposed the plan last spring for a standalone police station on Robbins Road, said given that the department needs new quarters, the combined facility downtown makes the most sense. "It's the most cost effective," member Jack Conroy said.
Selectmen appointed the committee after voters shot down the plan for a Robbins Road police station in June. The expectation is that the new combined proposal is headed for a Town Meeting vote in May and a spot on the June town election ballot for an override vote.
"At the end of the day, the taxpayers will decide," Bowen said.
Greg Carell, the committee's consultant, said Tuesday night that with the plan still very preliminary, he's reluctant to offer a cost estimate. Pressed for an answer, he indicated construction could run $14 million, plus more than $2 million for design, engineering and furnishing.
Conroy noted the committee took another look at Robbins Road, but a standalone police station there still looked pricey.
Committee members said that Police Chief Richard Stillman and Fire Chief Timothy Bailey are on board with the combined facility plan. Stillman said that he wants to make sure that as design progresses, there's enough space to meet his department's needs.
In the sketch presented Tuesday night, police would get 18,000 square feet in the 40,000-square-foot facility. Stillman noted the Robbins Road plan envisioned a 24,000-square-foot police station. Carell responded that some of the drop is offset by a shared conference room, dispatch area and entry.
Selectmen Chairman Joseph Denneen said what gets built has to be adequate to meet the departments' needs for at least a generation.
The fire station has to be located downtown. Beyond that, other locations such as the Superfund site on South Street, have disadvantages. Members noted that the new plan is just about what the selectmen's municipal facilities study committee recommended three years ago.
The committee focused on whether there is enough space in the municipal complex for a combined facility, and members Tuesday night were pleased that they concluded that it can fit.
The plan allows the police and fire departments to remain in their existing buildings until the combined facility is ready for them. Conroy noted that Norwood had to spend heavily to relocate its departments while a new facility was built on their existing location.
The plan, Carell said, leaves about the same number of parking spaces as now, but arranged rationally. Members said the plan makes for a more attractive downtown.
Stone Field gets diminished -- but because of the planned senior community center, not the fire and police building. Denneen noted there's a sketch showing enough space for a Little League field on what would be left.
The plan calls for parking in the area now occupied by the fire station and its big apron onto Stone Street. The new station would face a widened Blackburn Drive, the now ill-defined roadway between Stone and East Streets.
With several firefighers and police officers in attendance at the hearing, that arrangement brought some questions.
The existing fire station apron provides room for firefighters to angle their trucks onto an often congested Stone Street. The Opticom system at the nearby intersection of Stone and Main gives green lights to apparatus. Engines would have a much tougher time making the tight swing from Blackburn Drive into backups on Stone or East, and there are no traffic lights and Opticom at those corners, an audience member noted. Carell responded that such concerns will be addressed as planning moves forward.
Conroy noted that the planned library remains at the corner of Stone and School Streets -- in part because changing the site would jeopardize the library's state construction grant. The senior center site stays put between Blackburn Hall and Stone Field in part because advocates want a firm location to present to potential donors.
Selectman Al DeNapoli proposed that Blackburn Hall be torn down to allow the senior center to be located closer to Stone Street. Blackburn Hall, he said, is very expensive to maintain and its uses could be easily transferred.
But members of the audience said that tying in the demolition of a Walpole landmark would kill any plan for a police and fire facility -- the voters would never go for it.