Board requests study for fire station rehab

BUCKFIELD — The board of selectmen has requested Town Manager Dana Lee to establish another study group to look into rehabilitating and adding an addition to the town's aging fire-rescue station.

During Tuesday's meeting, board members said they would like to give voters options of how to address the building's condition.

Last month, a task force that looked into options for the building's future recommended the town construct a new station, estimated to cost upwards of $1 million.

The task force looked into restoring the old station and building an addition as an option but rejected it because the costs involved were unknown.

According to minutes from an October 27 selectmen's workshop, board members questioned the high cost of new construction.

On Tuesday, Board Chair Robin Buswell said he had heard from many residents who were opposed to building a new station and wanted to see if there was a way to achieve the same result with rehabilitation.

Several supporters of the proposal to construct a new station said they feared the board was attempting to quash the proposal.

Buswell said the board was not rejecting new construction as an option, but wanted more information about what rehabilitation might entail.

Town Manager Dana Lee told the board that there was only so much a study group could accomplish without professional consultation.

He suggested the board could include an article on the town warrant that authorized spending for an engineering study, to indicate the true cost of new construction.

The board decided not to place the article on the warrant, preferring to see what results the new study group returned in order to give voters options, rather than an up or down vote on new construction.

The town has been contemplating building a new fire station for decades. Fire-rescue staff say the current building is poorly ventilated, structurally unsound and has inadequate space for equipment.