“It’s more than a fire station”

Saugus residents receive a PowerPoint presentation on an all-encompassing public safety facility designed to improve police, fire and ambulance service to the town

By Mark E. Vogler

The four-decades-old quest for a third fire station to cover the west side of town has transformed into a much more global project of relevance for all Saugus residents – not just in one section of town.

“It’s more than a fire station,” Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree told the audience in the two-thirds full second floor auditorium at Saugus Town Hall Monday (April 14) night.

“It’s a West Side Public Safety & EMS Response Facility,” he said. He noted it would be a facility used by the Fire Department, Police Department, dispatcher and ambulance service for the benefit of the entire town – not just one part.

Crabtree invited the public to attend a presentation highlighting the findings of a comprehensive study into the feasibility for a third fire station/EMS public safety facility to be located on the west side of town. Representatives of Context Architecture, a Boston-based firm with experience in developing the designs for public safety buildings around the state, presented the findings of a study that analyzed existing Saugus Fire Department response times and incident coverage to determine the feasibility of a new fire station/EMS public safety building and where such a facility could be located to best serve the town’s public safety needs.

If the town’s mission is simply to open up a third fire station, it could put up a steel building and put a fire truck in it, according to Crabtree. Or, the town could repurpose the old firehouse near Town Hall and put a firetruck in that building. But that wouldn’t serve the town’s public interest, Crabtree said.

Jeff Shaw, president and Principal-in-Charge at Context Architecture, and the company’s project manager, Peter Nelson, sat at a table positioned at the front of the town auditorium where they shared the findings of their study and presented the PowerPoint presentation. The objectives of the feasibility study were to:

• Assess existing fire stations, operations and studies
• Prepare response time analysis
• Review potential sites for future public safety and EMS facility
• Make recommendations for site selection
• Program and design new public safety and EMS facility

In addition, the study identified two zones for response time analysis. Zone 1 provides access to main roads, including Route 1 and Walnut Street, while Zone 2 provides access to main roads, including Lynn Fells Parkway, Route 1 and Main Street. A station located in Zone 2 is closer to the existing Public Safety Headquarters and Fire Station. Zone 2 includes partial coverage of West Saugus and Melrose.

Zones were studied along with site features, including reservation land, wetlands, flood zones and other areas not suitable for construction. Phase one of the feasibility study included more than 25 sites in Zones 1 and 2 that were identified for initial analysis. Six sites were selected for detailed study and building test fits.

Among the findings of the analysis:

• A facility located in Northwest Saugus improves coverage and response time.
• A new facility addresses future development and increasing fire and EMS demand.
• A new facility permits the Saugus Fire Department to maintain current response times and improve overall service to the town.

Crabtree said he plans to submit an article for a Special Town Meeting scheduled for May 5 requesting funds for phase two of the feasibility study, which would be continued by Context Architecture – a firm that has developed a track record all over New England, including for designing firehouses, according to the town manager. “We’ve already invested a half million dollars. We’re going to invest more for the land. We’re going to have to put together a design,” Crabtree said. “The next phase is going to be looking for more money for designing.”

“We have to have our ducks in a row and make sure it makes sense. Part of this feasibility study is looking at every area in the town,” he said.

Crabtree estimated that it would cost $30 million and perhaps more to build a public safety building and to acquire property to locate it. It would be an additional $1.5 million to add staff, he said.

“We have to start thinking differently – what we want for the entire community,” Crabtree said.

“This is another big turning point for the town. The goal is to bring a product to the residents,” he said.

The main challenge would be “to have buy-in from the entire community,” according to the town manager. “I think the fire, police and the ambulance service are behind this. I’m extremely excited about the project. We’re going to need people to support this,” Crabtree said.

“It will improve and stabilize our property taxes in Saugus,” he said.

Crabtree noted that he and town officials faced a similar challenge in getting the town to approve the new Saugus Middle-High School project several years ago by an overwhelming margin of 71 percent of the vote. Initially, people were afraid to support the school project, he said.

Crabtree recalled “there were people in their 70s and 80s who said, ‘It’s about time.’”

“Let the residents go out and vote and decide what they want. If it gets voted down, it gets voted down.”

The public was invited to ask questions about the project following the hour-long presentation. Several residents wanted to know how the project would be financed.

Part of the project would have to be funded by a debt exclusion over a 20- to 30-year period, Crabtree answered. For more personnel to staff the facility, it might take an operations override, he said. “If we acquire property, Town Meeting would have to pass an additional article,” he said.

“The first step is funding. We have to get funding to move forward,” he said of the feasibility study. Crabtree said the feasibility study for the new school cost about $1.5 million.

Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini said he’s optimistic about the public safety project. “I’m still looking at the benefits townwide,” Cicolini said.

“I think we’re going to get enough community support that’s going to drive this project. This is a town-wide project. We got one shot. Let’s do it right,” he said.

Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta recalled how close the town came to getting a third fire station many years ago. “People voted to build the Fire Station, but not for the manpower,” Panetta said.

This has been a need for our town for a very long time,” she said.

Saugus Fire Chief Michael Newbury figured that careful data and analysis will determine the future location of the public safety building. “When the Essex Street Fire Station was placed in that location, it was picked with data,” Chief Newbury said.

“When you look at Route 1, that’s going to bear a lot of the population in the future,” he said.

Saugus Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli said the new facility would assist the Police Department in overseeing the dispatchers who would use the building and also be a convenient location for patrol officers to stop at to file their reports.