NEWTON FIRE STATION
BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING (NFSBC)
March 16, 2015
In attendance, in alphabetical order: John Alcaidinho, Jim Holland, Trisha McCarthy, Dennis Moran, Mike Pivero, Dale Putnam, Jim Ryan and Jim White. Joe Lingel was excused. Secretary Barbara White transcribed the minutes.
Election of Officers / Chairman / Vice Chairman
Dale Putnam was nominated for Chairman by Mrs. McCarthy and seconded by Mr. Holland - the vote was unanimous. Dennis Moran was nominated for Vice Chairman by Mr. Holland and seconded by Mrs. McCarthy - the vote was unanimous. Congratulations to both.
Mrs. White reminded Mrs. McCarthy and Mr. Pivero they would need to contact the Town Clerk to be sworn in for their appointments.
Call Meeting to Order
Mr. Putnam called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
Acceptance of Minutes
There was unanimous consensus to approve the March 9 minutes as submitted.
Review / Discussion / Approval of Mission Statement
At the March 9 meeting, Mr. Doggett had offered a proposed mission statement he opined would fit the objective of this committee. Members were asked to review it and be prepared to make other suggestions at this meeting. Mr. Moran's suggestion was to add the words conceptual and proposed. The members came to a unanimously consensus to approve the change in wording. The official Mission Statement of the Newton Fire Station Building committee will be:
“It is the mission of the Newton Fire Station Building Committee to develop a conceptual
plan for a proposed Fire Station on the Town-owned property at 8 Merrimac Road for the
maximum benefit of the Town of Newton and to bring said conceptual plan before the
voters of Newton.”
Setting of Meeting Dates
Meeting dates were discussed and the third Monday of the month was determined to be the best choice for the group to meet. Mrs. White will notify the Selectmen's Office so the room may be reserved for the Committee. The next meeting will be on April 20.
Discussion of Fire Station Tours
Mr. Putnam reported some of the members of the group had gone to look at the Central Fire Station last week after the meeting, but did not go to view the one at the Junction as it is a 2-bay garage only.
They could readily see the dire needs for a new station. Mrs. McCarthy noted there was a slide show they had produced for the Municipal Complex Committee showing most of the conditions or lack thereof. She would locate it and make it available should the group decide they need to put it on the web again so the public could see what constraints the Fire Department is working with. Mr. Ryan noted the roof is on its last legs.
One idea was to get with all the different organizations in Town and have members of the committee explain what this committee's goal was and why it is necessary. Mr. Pivero suggested that wait until they had more information before they attempted that type of contact.
There was much discussion regarding other stations in the surrounding areas. Most were very similar to each other but much more than Newton would need. The group would see if they could get copies of those plans as reference as there might be some ideas/configurations from those existing stations they could incorporate into their final plan instead of reinventing the wheel. The group also felt the new Fire Chief would have good input as to what they would need and wanted his input, and he had experience since he had been on other building committees. Chief Alcaidinaho did offer that it would cost half the price to build a new station in New Hampshire as compared to Massachusetts. Also, other towns have planned stations to be designed so a second floor could be added if necessary.
There would be much thought necessary as to the needs building - sleeping areas for emergencies, where to place air conditioning units if they were going to consider 2nd floor expansion (they could not be put on the roof), showers, an exhaust system, would they need an elevator for a second floor. These were only a few of the things that need to be considered. Others would need to be identified.
Project Timeline / Identify Potential Subcommittees
As Johanne Russo, Newton resident, was in attendance at the meeting Mr. Putnam explained what the committee's goal was.
There was discussion on how long they thought this project would take and how much lead time they would need to sell the idea of a new station to the public. Also when would they need to have a final plan to the Selectmen in time to place on next year's warrant. October-November was identified as the target for submitting the information to the Selectmen. This timeframe would then give time for infor-mation to be distributed to the public so they could understand why this was being done.
Many residents might not be aware we already own the property, where the proposed fire station would be located or where that land is located.
We would also ensure the residents that the station at the Junction would stay where it is.
Several ideas were discussed as possible avenues by which to get the information out to the residents.
Mrs. White will contact the Carriage Towne News and find out what types of articles/letters could be placed at no cost.
Mrs. McCarthy noted for the last committee, there was a mock interview held on the web and most questions were asked and answered during that interview. Mr. Ryan noted the last committee also thought of having a small column in the paper for questions and/or trivia.
There was also discussion regarding starting a facebook page; Mrs. Wrigley noted there was a Town Social Media Policy and would get a copy for the committee.
Consensus was that if the residents would tour the station and see what the fire department is working with on a day-to-day basis, they would understand why a new station is necessary. The second floor is not handicapped accessible, so it could never be used as any type of shelter. Mrs. Wrigley noted all the windows were single pane, so it was costing $1,000 per month to heat the building.
Other
Mr. Pivero asked if the committee had any funds. The only money associated with this committee was funds to pay the secretary; there were no funds for architects work at this time. They hope was to come up with an RFP for proposals.
Mr. Moran would scan the existing plans (from the previous safety complex proposal) and distribute to the members. Mr. Ryan will bring the posterboard layout from the fire station to the next meeting.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 pm. Next meeting is April 20.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara White
Barbara White
Secretary
Newton Fire Station Building Committee
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