Acton officials and consultants make case for new DPW facility as public raises tax, timing concerns

Town of Acton consultants and project team members presented updated plans and revised costs Monday evening for a proposed new Department of Public Works facility on Forest Road, saying the current garage — built in 1970 — fails code, presents safety risks to staff and cannot house modern vehicles.

The public forum presentation came from Weston & Sampson architects and PMA Associates, the owner's project manager. John Como, the Weston & Sampson architect on the project, summarized the design work and timeline and said the base building has been reduced to about 42,530 square feet after value-engineering, with the vehicle storage garage accounting for roughly 23,900 square feet of that footprint. "We're the architect and the engineers for the design of the new DPW for the Town of Acton," Como said.

The presentation emphasized operational, safety and code reasons for replacing the existing DPW building. The consultants said the Forest Road facility was built in 1970 as a roughly 19,000-square-foot structure; it is undersized for current fleets and lacks adequate ventilation, structural reinforcement and locker-room space. Della…