A survey is being circulated by the Brattleboro Select Board asking residents to pick among a number of proposals to either improve or replace the existing facilities, which town officials say are unsafe and prevent the fire and police departments from operating as effectively as they could. Upgrading or replacing the two departments’ space has been a perennial subject of debate for the last 20 years, but projected costs have kept the projects from winning voter approval.
Residents will have until Monday, Jan. 18, to fill out and return the questionnaires: their responses will be the subject of a select board meeting the following evening.
The board has already borrowed $5 million to provide initial funding for these projects after getting authorization to do so at Town Meeting in 2012. Close to $1 million of that amount has already been spent to acquire land adjacent to the central fire station on Elliot Street and on design work for both the police and fire facilities, so approximately $4 million of the original bond remains to spend on whichever alternative is selected. However, additional funding will be needed if the town is to proceed further, and residents routinely have balked at the expense.
Three options are proposed for the central fire station:
Build an addition and renovate the existing station with the goals of having bays large enough for standard fire trucks to fit in the building; exhaust systems to keep hazardous fumes out of firefighters’ living quarters; a tower that allows hose to be dried and training to occur on-site; decontamination facilities; repairs to unstable and deteriorating walkways and floors; handicapped accessibility as required by law; and improved work flow.
Town officials say this approach would meet the needs of the community and the fire department for 20-plus years. Estimated price tag is $6.1 million.
The plan could be expanded to include an additional story at an added cost of about $550,000, or to include structural elements at an additional cost of about $175,000 that would enable construction of an additional story at a later date.
Keep the existing central station as it is but install an exhaust removal system and emergency generator, remediate asbestos, replace the roof, upgrade electric and plumbing, make structural repairs to the catwalk, make improvements to meet handicapped access laws and build a metal outside garage for large equipment. However, town officials warn this approach would mean likely mean additional improvements would be required in the coming years. Estimated price tag: $2.5 million.
Two options are proposed for the fire station in West Brattleboro:
Replace it with a new building that would provide truck bays big enough for equipment meeting current standards, safe and healthy living quarters for firefighters and other operational improvements. Estimated price tag: $1.4 million.
Keep the station as is and install an exhaust removal system and an emergency generator, remediate mold, replace the roof and windows, and make improvements to meet handicapped access laws. Again, town officials warn that this is a Banid-Aid approach. Modern replacement fire trucks that need to be bought in the coming years would not fit in the building. Estimated price tag: $400,000.
There are several scenarios for upgrading the police station that residents are also being asked to choose among:
The first would be to relocate the station to the vacant Brattleboro Reformer building on Black Mountain Road at the north end of town. The town has already purchased on option to buy the property, and town officials say the building would require little in the way of renovations, and would serve the town for the next 20-plus years. “This is the least expensive alternative for fully modernizing the Police Department’s facilities,” according to the questionnaire. It would leave vacant space at the Municipal Center to be leased or otherwise reused. Estimated price tag: $4.1 million.
Keep the police department at the Municipal Center downtown and build a one-story addition and do significant interior renovations to the basement and the first and second floors. This work would address operational issues for patrol, detective, management, dispatch and support personnel at the Brattleboro Police Department, providing for safer custody of prisoners through a new cellblock and sallyport; renovations to the dispatch facilities; improved evidence, equipment, and weapons storage and handling; separate changing facilities for male and female police officers; safe and private space for citizens to meet with police officers; mold and moisture remediation. This plan would also keep the department on even keel for the next 20-plus years. Estimated price tag: $5.1 million.
Keep the department at the Municipal Center and replace the dispatch system, remediate mold, build a sallyport and improve access to the current cellblock, provide for separate locker rooms for men and women police officers, improve evidence and equipment storage and handling, address minimum citizen privacy and officer safety improvements, and provide handicapped accessibility. However, town officials warn that additional work would likely be required in less than 20 years, and that the space would would be “less than optimal for its efficient and safe operation.” Estimated price tag: $2.5 million.
Residents are also being asked when the work should take place. “Completing improvements to the Police and Fire facilities at one time will reduce the long-term total cost of the project (due to the combined impacts of construction cost inflation and rising interest rates if the projects are staged or deferred),”according to the survey. “Phasing the project to complete some work now and some work later will reduce the immediate cost of the project in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Do you believe improvements to the police and fire stations should be done together or in phases?”
If residents opt for major overhauls at the fire stations and relocating the police department, town officials say it would cost $11.8 million, which would require the town to borrow an additional $7.7 million.
If public sentiment leans toward renovating and expanding the central fire station, replacing the West Brattleboro fire station and keeping the police department in the Municipal Center with major improvements, town officials estimate the total at $12.8 million, which would require borrowing an additional $8.7 million.
If residents go for the least costly options to make make minimum improvements to the police and fire facilities, the total cost is estimated at $5.4 million, which would require the town to borrow $1.3 million.
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©2016 The Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.)
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