Town forced to pare down plans for police, fire stations
A decision by Duxbury voters not to spend money on designs for new or renovated public safety facilities could lead to another vote on a scaled-back plan this fall.
Voters defeated a $1 million tax override to fund design plans for the renovation or reconstruction of the town's police station and fire station by more than 500 votes at last Saturday's town election.
Town officials said voters' reluctance to pay for rebuilding the old and outmoded police and fire stations - not merely design costs - was probably behind the big no vote. But they also said the need for new public safety facilities won't go away.
"It's a big, big dollar amount," said Andre Martecchini, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. "When people have the opportunity to say no to raising their taxes, many people take advantage of that. I don't blame them."
Town Manager Richard MacDonald agreed.
"I think the scope bothered people. The message is we have to come back with something scaled down and on a different site," he said.
The estimated cost for the two buildings was $16 million. Martecchini said town leaders will look for ways to reduce the size and costs of new facilities before making a new proposal. But the inadequacies of the current buildings will ultimately lead to their replacement, he said.
"It will have to happen sooner or later," Martecchini said.
Acting on a report from a study committee looking at the town's public safety buildings, selectmen backed a recommendation to build an expanded fire station near the current station on Tremont Street. But officials concluded that no site in that area was large enough to house a combined police and fire facility. As a result, the board supported separate locations for each department. Officials also opposed a move at Town Meeting this month to separate the proposals.
Town Meeting backed the leadership's $1 million design proposal, but voters rejected it by a large margin, 1,419 votes in opposition to 885 in favor.
Officials said after the vote that not only the scale of the projects but the decision to build them at separate locations would have to be reconsidered. Town leaders will probably consider a combined site for the facilities on town property controlled by the Cemetery Commission off Route 3A, Martecchini said. The property is reserved for cemetery expansion, he said, and if the town wants to use it for public safety buildings it would probably have to swap other land for it.
The other route the town could pursue now, he said, is proposing to go ahead with only a new police station, which by consensus is the most urgent.
"It's an embarrassment," Selectwoman Elizabeth Sullivan said of the police station.
Voters watching a slide presentation on the building at Town Meeting groaned at conditions, Sullivan said. Built in the 1960s for 11 officers, the building now houses 30-plus officers who contend with overcrowded work and storage space and inadequate bathrooms, according to Police Chief Mark DeLuca and the study committee.
Moving ahead with separate plans for the police station, however, would eliminate the possibility of a combined facility, Sullivan said. She said town leaders have to respond to last week's vote with less costly alternatives.
"I think the ballot vote was compelling," she said. "People do not think it's a good time to support these two projects. Times are tough everywhere and I think we have to realize that."
Voters did, however, back two other tax increase measures, including one that is expected to add $108 to the average home's tax bill, according to finance director John Madden. Voters agreed to the $616,774 capital exclusion override for new equipment for town schools and other departments, including textbooks, technology upgrades, and new vehicles. The increased spending will be added to the tax levy for one year only.
Sullivan said the result showed voters were willing to spend on items as necessary as textbooks. It passed by a vote of 1,345 to 982.
Voters also approved a $163,000 debt exclusion override for design plans to renovate the town swimming pool, 1,411 to 901. The expense will stay on the tax rolls for the life of the loan.
Since a new proposal to borrow money for the police and fire station projects would also be debt exclusion, action this year would require passage at a Special Town Meeting and at the polls. Officials could put a plan before the voters coincident with the November presidential election, saving the town the cost of a special election and assuring a large turnout.
Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com. 