FIRE STATION
BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING (FSBC)
August 17, 2015
In attendance, in alphabetical order: Fire Chief John Alcaidinho, Joe Lingel, Vice Chairman Dennis Moran, Mike Pivero and Jim White. Also attending was Selectmen's Representative to the Committee Lisa Gonyer. Jim Ryan and Trisha McCarthy were excused. Jim Holland and Chairman Dale Putnam were absent. Secretary Barbara White transcribed the minutes.
Vice Chair Moran called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
As there was no quorum at the start of the meeting, it was decided to wait for approval of the June and July minutes.
The agenda topic was review and discussion of the site walk on July 20.
Chief Alcaidinho reported some contractors had conducted inspections of the building at Merrimac Street. One was to give an estimate for reducing the size of one door, repairing the other two doors and installing automatic openers. Another contractor conducted a walk-through to give an estimate to renovate the existing building with apparatus bays and a small radio room, which would be stage one. A possible stage two would be to build an addition at the end of the building. That said, it would be more cost-efficient to do it all at the same time. There also were enough volunteers to paint the outside of the building that the only cost for that would be the paint.
He reported that EMD Director Larry Foote had spoken to the State who has assured if the Town installs an EOC, they would reimburse the Town 50% of the entire cost, which includes heating, A/C, lighting, TVs, computers, radios, etc. Mr. Moran asked about repaving the parking lot and fixing the problem where the driveway meets the road and if there had been any estimates on those. Chief Alcaidinho reported there had been no action on those items as of yet, but perhaps Mr. Pivero cold give an estimate of the anticipated cost.
Chief Alcaidinho has received ballpark estimates on what it would cost to replace the roof and the windows at the Central Station, but there have been no estimates on fixing the garage doors, insulating, or adding handicapped accessibility. He is trying to get an estimate of what it would cost to fix the Central Station as opposed to going to the Merrimac Road location. The Chief noted that no matter what else happens at the Central Station, the stairwell needs to be fixed. Several people have hit their heads because of the low clearance, and one person was almost was knocked out last week.
Some of the other reasons for making the move to Merrimac Road necessary is the fact the Central Station is not handicap accessible, the water is not potable, and there is a serious lack of insulation so what little heat there is goes right out the walls and windows.
For the Central Station, one fix leads to another. If a new heating system is installed, it is necessary to add the insulation and new windows and insulated doors or the heat will not be effective. You would be throwing away your money unless everything was upgraded, so why bother. The Town Engineer did give an estimate for the repairs to the South side of the Central Station.
There is a rough estimate for installation of portable heating systems, one for each floor. If they moved to the Merrimac Road location these systems could be removed from the Central Station and installed at the new location. The old oil tank could be put back in the building.
Mr. Moran asked if they had all the quotes back; the Chief stated only the one for the doors at Merrimac Road. In speaking to other contractors in the past, there have been estimates it would cost between $300,000 to $500,000 to move to the Merrimac Road location.
The question is what would the tax impact be for 10-20 years? At a previous meeting, Mr. Moran had made an estimate that the tax impact on a $200,000 home would be approx. $3.50, so for a $400,000 home it would be approx. $7.00. This would be calculated at 4% over 20 years. This impact is significantly less than earlier calculations on $1-2.5 million dollars to build an entire new station.
Since there had been questions on donations at previous meetings, the Chief reported after speaking to the Fire Association they said any donations would need to be made out to the Fire Association and labeled for the station fund. That way they would be used for either location. The Open House for the Fire Station will be the third week of October on the 17-18 so as not to conflict with Town Day.
As Mr. Pivero had joined the meeting, there was now a quorum. Vice Chair Mr. Moran asked for a motion to approve the June and July minutes. All could remember the July minutes, but no one recalled the June minutes. Mr. Pivero moved to approve the July minutes; Mr. Moran seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Mrs. Gonyer pulled the June minutes up on her I-Pad and read them to the members; thank you Mrs. Gonyer. Mr. Moran again asked for a motion. Mr. Pivero made a motion to accept the June minutes; Mr. White seconded. Vote was unanimous.
Mr. Pivero will meet with the Chief to give an estimate for the parking lot, so they would have a number for the report. Mrs. White will find out the timeframe it is due.
In anticipation of getting all the numbers into the report, the thought was there needed to be an extra meeting for this to happen. August 31st was voted on for the extra meeting date.
Mrs. White will reserve the room and contact the other members to let them know.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm. Next meeting is August 31st 7:00 pm Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara White
Barbara White, Secretary
Fire Station Building Committee
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