A committee charged with planning a replacement for Station 2 in Swansea recommended using the town-owned parcel at 321 Old Homestead Highway as the preferred site, saying the location would preserve coverage for the town’s densest north neighborhoods and the Route 32 corridor and could be ready for construction in 2025.

The committee said choosing the town-owned site minimizes acquisition and construction costs because municipal water and sewer are already available there; relying on wells at other sites would require cisterns for sprinkler-system water storage, adding expense and delay. Committee members also considered airport-owned land on the east side of Route 32, but said building-height restrictions on the airport parcels made them unsuitable.

Committee members explained the replacement should provide the same capabilities as the existing station while leaving room for future expansion. The group emphasized that once the new Station 2 is completed, no part of Swansea will be more than 5 miles from a fire station. The committee focused on properties that could accommodate a station while keeping acquisition costs low; they said other privately owned sites were less attractive because of purchase price and additional time required to acquire them.

The committee described some urgency to move forward, saying delays are likely to increase building costs. Staff noted that the town-owned site’s access to existing utilities reduces both time and expense compared with sites that would require wells and septic systems. The committee said its next report will explain how the modified proposal reduces costs compared with a proposal that failed to win approval last March.

No formal vote recorded in the provided transcript excerpt; the committee described its decision to focus on the town-owned site as the preferred option and outlined next steps for cost comparisons and scheduling.