New Fire Station Informational Meeting

On the evening of Nov. 27, approximately 60 New Gloucester citizens comfortably filled the AMVETS Hall to hear about one of the most important and expensive projects to be proposed in many years: a new fire and rescue station.

With a PowerPoint presentation, Fire Chief Gary Sacco summarized the time line of the Fire Station Committee’s work dating back to July 26, 2004, when the initial committee members were appointed by the board of selectmen.

The committee’s strategies for land acquisition and developing an appropriate design for the building were outlined. December 2005 marked an important milestone in the process when citizens at a special town meeting voted to purchase 25 acres of land for $168,000. About a year later during a tour of the new fire station in Brunswick, the committee became impressed and decided to recommend the design/build process using Brunswick’s format. At the conclusion of the bidding process, the architectural firm of Bunker & Savage and Zachau Construction were chosen for the project.

At the beginning of the question-and-answer session, discussion was centered on energy-efficient devices to keep costs down. Carl Wilcox expressed a concern with plans for the use of expensive propane heat. He suggested using geothermal technology or burning wood pellets.

In architect Jim Pelsor’s opinion, geothermal wells would not be economically wise, and a large-scale industrial building would require a very large storage silo for wood pellets. Jeff Zachau stated that it is up to the committee to decide what heating system would be used but he feels, “a simple system is the best solution.”

Wilcox restated his support for geothermal technology citing an illustration of its benefits. He said that wells were installed at some of Bowdoin College’s dormitories, which significantly saved on energy use.

Pelsor offered assurance that very good levels of insulation have been built into the design of the new fire station, plus the ceiling, walls and floor would have high R-values. Sacco stated that the committee is looking at ways to keep energy costs down, and all viable alternatives would be explored.

New Fire Station Funding Options

The majority of the discussion at the Nov. 27 informational meeting was focused on funding options for the new fire station. The project is capped at $2.3 million. The two methods of funding that came to the forefront were bonding versus using money from the town’s Undesignated Fund Balance (surplus), currently containing about $5 million.

Town Manager Rosemary Kulow outlined the bonding option, which seemed to be favored by the selectmen present at the meeting. After applying approximately $300,000 from reserved Fire Station funds toward the project, the town would need to borrow about $2 million. At a 4.5 percent interest rate, annual payments would be about $249,000. The effect on the mil rate would be an increase of about 25 cents per $1,000 of valuation. For example, this would translate into an increase of about $50 per year for a property valued at $200,000. Kulow stressed that these figures are based on assumptions that may fluctuate a bit.

Many of the meeting attendees expressed their opposition to the bonding option. They speculate that a large group of New Gloucester taxpayers would prefer to pay for the project entirely from undesignated funds. Moreover, they advocate putting the funding options up for a vote by offering two separate articles, feeling that citizens deserve to have a chance to have their say on the issue.

Bonding proponents countered on three fronts. First, they foresee a potential problem in the two, separate article approach. It’s possible that neither funding option would prevail, so the new fire station would be voted down despite the fact that a majority may favor it. Secondly, removing $2 million from undesignated funds would result in losing more interest income earned than the amount of interest expended by bonding. Thirdly, they hypothesize that citizens would be more inclined to bond the new fire station since it affects the whole town than they would be to bond other upcoming capital improvement projects such as the reconstruction of the Woodman Road, which affects a much smaller population of town. The undesignated fund balance can’t sustain all of these projects.

The Next Step

The Fire Station Committee recommends holding a special town meeting after the holidays. Selectman Steve Libby would like to see the Budget Committee convene a meeting to discuss the issue of funding options prior to the special town meeting.

If the project is approved at the special town meeting, the design/build team hopes to break ground in April or May. The goal would be to finish the new building before winter.

Residents who would like to express opinions about the project are encouraged to contact a selectman with their ideas and concerns. Cable viewers who were not present at the informational meeting may watch airings of the tape on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on NGTV Channel 3.

Town Board and Committee Meetings

Dec. 11: Land Management Planning Committee, 7 p.m., Meetinghouse

Dec. 12: CIP Committee, 7 p.m., Meetinghouse

Dec. 13: Cable TV Committee, 10 a.m., Meetinghouse

Dec. 13: Parks & Rec Committee, 7 p.m., Meetinghouse

Dec. 14: Story Time, 9:30 a.m., Library