We assume you’re all familiar with the old adage ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’
It’s somewhat of an inspirational message of hope and maybe the only thing that’s kept the Bow Public Safety Building Committee moving forward all these years.
After three failed attempts to win over residents at town meeting, (including a couple of painstakingly close votes) the committee is bringing back another proposal with the hope that 2016 is the lucky charm.
Now you know we don’t generally get involved with things like budgets, politics and crime – actually we like to avoid them at all costs – but how could we do a public safety issue and not pass along all the info about the most up-to-date plan for the proposed safety complex in Bow?
So let’s go over some of the basics. It’s proposed to be a 23,000-square-foot building that will house the police and fire departments, and the emergency management offices. To say that it would be a significant upgrade to the current facilities might be a bit of an understatement, but it would be as is whenever any town decides to build a new complex that would be expected to last for at least the next 50 years. Currently the first station just isn’t in compliance with state fire code and that’s not even taking into consideration the lack of space. The police station is located across town and also has it’s own deficiencies.
“It comes down to functionality,” said Selectman and committee member Colleen Hunter. “Our buildings don’t function now and we need them to function.”
It’s going to be located on a 17-acre town owned parcel near the corner of Logging Hill Road and Knox Road – you know where the gazebo lives and adjacent to the current fire station – and has gone through many variations along the way.
“It’s the best location for it,” said committee member Ray Johnson.
From our conversations, it seems as though the price tag – in the past – was a big reason why it failed those three previous attempts.
It started out with a cost of $7.7 million when it was first put on the ballot in 2013, the year after voters approved funds to proceed with the design of the building. It actually only fell 48 votes shy of the 2/3 majority required.
In 2014, the committee came back with a proposal that was about $1 million less than the year before, but it was still rejected, as were plans to design and renovate the existing police and fire station buildings. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“There were a wide range of people who were convinced we didn’t need anything,” said Town Manager David Stack.
Last year’s request of voters was for just over $5 million, but again it was denied. Although the silver lining came when voters did approve a request for $35,000 to develop detailed design-build specifications and request proposals for construction, not to exceed $5 million.
So the committee listened and they are coming back with a proposal for the 23,000-square-foot complex that will house all three public safety branches with a cost of less than $4 million to be bonded. The total price tag would be about $4.3 million.
“From a construction standpoint, it’s a pretty reasonable price,” said committee member Glenn Dugas. “And as a committee we made a few hard decisions.”
If you’re not familiar with the project’s history, this isn’t something the town is looking to do as a luxurious upgrade – it’s a necessity. The department’s are severely lacking, as Johnson, who was first against this project but joined the committee two years ago, saw when visiting 18 facilities in communities of similar population.
“What I found is how terribly inadequate our facilities are,” Johnson said.
The fire station has been under the watchful eye of the state fire marshal since 2007 when they first received a variance to allow overnight sleeping quarters for fire personnel. In 2013, the town was issued an order citing many inadequacies by the same fire marshal’s office where total compliance is needed by September 2016. So as you can see, the clock is ticking. Tick, tick, tick, tick.
“We don’t have a choice, it’s public safety,” Hunter said.
The proposed construction would take place in the flat area near the back of the town owned land. The only trees that will be taken down are the ones where the building and the driveway are slated to be and would be done using a 100-foot setback, double what’s required by the town ordinance to help ease any concerns of neighboring citizens.
“There has been some concerns raised for the rest of the site,” Stack said.
And just an FYI, the fire station was purchased by the town in 1956, used, and the police department was also not brand new when it moved to the 12 Robinson Road location.
The building complex idea has been around for some time and like we said before, members of the committee are optimistic this is the right time for it. The school bond will come off the books before this note’s first payment is made. And for a $300,000 home, it’s not expected to add more than $90.07 in any of the 20 years to your taxes and that’s not taking into consideration the reduction after paying off the high school.
“It got to a point where it was set aside and that was because of building the high school,” Stack said.
Putting them all in one building just makes sense.
“They work well together now, and they’re separate,” Hunter said.
The committee has done some fundraising, adding about $10,000 to the pot.
And if the bond passes next month, what will the plan be?
“The goal is to start it in May and finish by January,” Dugas said.
But in case you’re wondering, the proposed plan will in no way affect the sledding hill – not that there’s been a whole lot of that going on this year.
If you’re interested in looking at the property, there’s a public site walk scheduled for Saturday at 8 a.m. To learn more, visit facebook.com/BNHPSBC.
