Fire Station Demolition Explained & Unraveled It has come to my attention that the Dec 15th BOS vote to proceed with demolition seemed rushed and that we hadnt done our due diligence because the 7 North Rd. Committee has not met yet. I am providing the following information to explain how that could not be further from the truth. July 28, 2014 Board of Selectmen (BOS) Meeting: Pat Maloney recommended using free cash for Demolition of the fire station. August 5, 2015- Permanent Town Building Committee (PTBC) Meting: After discussing costs to renovate and potential future uses of center fire station, all 5 members present agreed that the building should be demolished. September 16, 2014 PTBC Meeting: A report prepared by Daigle Engineers, Inc. dated August 27, 2014 regarding the Structural Condition Walk-Through/Initial MBC Chapter 34 Reviews of the existing Center Fire Station located at Seven North Road was distributed. Minutes State In 2009, several options for renovation of the Center Fire Station were determined and estimates calculated. The 2009 options were briefly reviewed. Due to changes in the Building Code since that time, there would be a considerable amount of additional work required at an additional cost. September 22, 2014 BOS Meeting: Pat Maloney spoke regarding his request for demolition of the Center Fire Station on North Rd. Mr. Maloney provided the latest structural engineering report for the building which was done in August. The building now has additional vertical cracks which indicate it is coming apart. Renovation would cost in excess of $1 million due to the state of disrepair and updated building code requirements. Demolition, grading and grass estimates were provided. October 7, 2014PTBC Meeting: It was stated If demolition of Seven North Road is approved at town meeting, demolition requires prior approval by the Historic District Commission including a public hearing. 3 of 5 BOS Members voted to support the Warrant Article for demolition. (pre-town meeting vote, dont remember exact date) Monday November 24th Town Meeting voted 95-35 to approve the funding. Town Meeting also asked that a committee be formed to decide what to do with the site. It should have been made more clear that the committee was not to study whether or not to demolish the site, but what to do with the site after the building is demolished. I have heard that this was unclear at Town Meeting and we will have to be more clear in the future. However, I did publicly state on the floor of town meeting If you authorize us tonight, we will do a little more due diligence but then we will ultimately have authority to demolish it. I think that makes the most sense. December 15th BoS Meeting: The Town Manager wanted to make sure the direction of the Selectmen hadnt changed in recent weeks and he asked for a confirmatory vote before proceeding with the RFP for demolition. Again, the Selectmen voted 3-2 to proceed. This was a confirmatory vote, after multiple meetings and discussions by both the Permanent Town Building Committee, Board of Selectmen, and a Town Meeting authorization.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 17:44:45 +0000
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