MAYNARD– As residents prepare for Special Town Meeting this weekend, Chief Anthony Stowers wishes to provide information on the proposed fire station building project.
Residents will vote on whether to approve a debt exclusion allocating $16 million to build a new fire station at Special Town Meeting on Saturday, Oct. 3. To view the Special Town Meeting Warrant, click here.
If approved, the new fire station would replace the current facility on Summer Street, which was built in 1954 and occupied in 1955.
The current facility has multiple deficiencies, including roof leaks, plumbing failures, inadequate heating, ventilation, and locker room facilities, among others. The apparatus floor is too small and does not allow for all fire department vehicles to fit inside. The department’s 2017 Aerial Ladder, purchased for over $1 million and partially funded by a $750,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is housed in a temporary structure adjacent to the current fire station.
The current fire station also does not provide adequate parking for members of the department.
“It’s important that residents have the information they need as they prepare for Special Town Meeting this weekend, not only about what the new station would offer but what limitations the current station places on our department,” Chief Stowers said.
In February 2018, the town allocated funds for the purchase of a lot at 30 Sudbury St., where the new fire station will be built if funding is approved by voters this Saturday and during town-wide debt exclusion vote in early 2021. Residents also allocated funds at the 2018 annual town meeting to fund the creation of a design for the new station.
The new station would resolve the facility concerns the Maynard Fire Department currently faces to due the natural aging of its 65-year-old facility, and would also allow for all of its equipment to be stored properly under one roof.
The station would serve as a training facility to allow the department to continue to offer the highest quality firefighting and emergency medical services to the community.
Additionally, the new facility would separate the equipment and living areas for firefighters while they are at the station, and would provide adequate locker room facilities.
If voters approve the project this weekend and at the ballot vote in early 2021, the project would go out to bid this spring and is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to build.
This weekends’ Special Town Meeting will be held at the Mill & Main parking lot at 5 Mill and Main at 1 p.m. For more information, click here.
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