Two-and-a-half years of planning, outreach, and strategy with periodic doses of rancor culminated quietly on Tuesday evening when Special Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved a $32 million bond to pay for construction of a fire station at 139 The Great Road.
More than 400 people attended the unusual June session, and after a presentation and a handful of questions, most of the voters raised their cards when Moderator David Powell called for the affirmative vote.
Bonding requires a threshold of a two-thirds majority and when Powell asked to see the negative vote, the smattering of cards was small enough that he declared the motion approved. No one asked for a hand count.
Several regulatory steps remain before the town advertises for construction bids, probably late in the year. Demolition of the house now on the site will not be allowed until all construction documents are executed.
The odyssey that led to Monday’s vote began in late 2021 when town officials learned that the property, owned by Utah State University, would be placed on the market. Earlier plans for a fire station at 175 The Great Road were on hold, as the Covid-19 pandemic precluded Town Meeting action in 2020.
That option would have cost significantly more because it appeared an eminent domain process would be required.
Resistance to the alternative site centered on its location in the Bedford Center Historic District. There also were concerns about the topography and size and proximity to abutters, as well as the location of underground electric hardware on the street.
After Town Meeting voted in 2022 to purchase the site and design a fire station, there were unsuccessful efforts to thwart the decision, including litigation and petitioners’ articles.
But the key to the emergence of the site was a 3-2 vote by the Historic District Commission on Feb. 21 reversing an earlier decision and granting a certificate of appropriateness for demolition and construction.
The Select Board decided at that point to take the preparation time necessary and delay the construction article from Annual Town Meeting to Tuesday’s Special Town Meeting.
Jeffrey Cohen, the former Planning Board chair who heads the Fire Station Building Committee, was tasked with the article presentation. He immediately projected architectural renderings that most voters have not seen on a large screen.
Cohen described architectural features visible from across The Great Road – the drive-through ladder truck bay, the ambulance bay, the stamped concrete apron, retaining walls on each side of the location, the extension of the adjacent stone wall on the west side
He also detailed the diagrammed site plan, pointing out the rear location of staff and public parking, the generator and trash container, the storage building for trailers, a boat, and other things currently stored off site, electric vehicle charging stations, planned fencing, and “as much landscaping as we could fit into the remaining spaces.”
Cohen also displayed a color-coded interior diagram, differentiating the apparatus bays and contiguous decontamination area, administrative, circulation, mechanical and electrical, and storage space as well as second-story living quarters.
More renderings on the rear entrance and surroundings elicited the biggest laugh of the meeting when Cohen noticed a small tree next to the out building and remarked, “I’m not sure how that got there.” He surmised that birds may have been responsible.
The highlights of the construction budget included:
- $15,230,00 for demolition and construction
- $3,530,000 for suite development
- $2,450,000 for “general conditions/requirements”
- More than $2 million for contingencies
- $1,800,000 for equipment and technology
- $3.5 million for a variety of “indirect soft costs”
- $700,000 for off-site intersection and stormwater considerations
The escalator meant to cover increasing costs between now and the bid invitation totals $430,000.
Finance Committee Chair Ben Thomas told Town Meeting that an estimated a 30-year bond at 3.75 percent, sold as a “level principal, declining interest note,” translates to first-year principal and interest of $2,458,008. That means a $345 property tax increase on the average homeowner – who pays $11,074, said Thomas. By the 30th year, the tax impact is less than half that.
Thomas also pointed out that with $6.7 million in unused tax levy, the town can finance the fire station bond without a Proposition 2½ override.
“This is not a pile of money or a bank account,” Thomas explained, but a sum that the town over the years was authorized to tax but did not. Under the law, the town retains the ability to retain the amount.
The unused tax levy will still exceed $4.3 million, he added. “We went with making this a non- exempt project because we can afford it.”
State law allows towns to exempt specific capital projects from the tax levy limits.
Most of the questions from voters were seeking information, and many were from former Finance Committee members, such as Walter St. Onge, who asked about the height of the planned training tower, not visible in the renderings. Cohen said the 49-foot tower will require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Elizabeth McClung was concerned about the impact of higher-than-forecast interest rates on the bond. Steve Steele asked about the life span of the remaining unused tax levy if the current spending rate continues, but Thomas said there are too many variables to determine that.
In answer to a question from Howard Reubenstein, Thomas said the additional principal and interest costs are well within the town’s financial policy ceiling of 10 percent of the operating budget. He added that significant principal and interest payments will soon be closed out.
In answer to Nick Howard’s question about “accommodations to mitigate noise and visual impact to abutting residential neighbors,” Cohen mentioned fencing, a landscaping buffer, and acoustical enclosure for the generator.
There were also several questions about sustainable energy. Robin Steele asked if the firehouse is designed for net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Cohen explained that “we couldn’t make a geothermal system work on the site,” but the plan “meets the specialized stretch code” and has been designed “to be in concert with LEED sustainability strategies.”
Asked why the building wasn’t fitted with solar panels, Cohen said “it was a budgetary decision.” He added that it will be “photovoltaic ready” for future installation.
Loading ...
