Design team outlines South River Road fire substation; committee endorsed plan 6–1

A Facilities Committee presentation on Oct. 9 laid out a reduced-scope fire substation design for South River Road and a detailed budget estimate intended to inform a potential warrant article and bonding request.

Architect Bob Robichak (LaValle Brentsinger) described the site layout, four apparatus bays with a 60‑foot minimum apron, separate visitor and staff parking, potential south-facing solar, and internal contamination control zones (red/warm/green) with extractor and locker-room flows. “These kinds of facilities are very hard to expand at a later date,” Robichak said, noting the design aims to be “forward thinking” for a building intended to last decades.

Cost consultant Bill Jean (Fulcrum Associates) presented a budget breakdown: estimated direct hard construction lines (site work, masonry, structure, mechanical and electrical) and allowances for design, contingency and project general conditions. Line items discussed included site work (~$1,134,000), masonry (~$432,000), mechanical (~$1,400,000), electrical (~$564,000), and an approximate direct construction total cited in the presentation as roughly $5.227 million; with preconstruction services and allowances the presenter cited a total project figure in the $7.5 million range, and adding optional items (mezzanine, hardening, and full signalization at Cedarwood) could raise the project toward roughly $8.9 million as an upper bound, depending on choices.

Councilors pressed designers on signalization at Cedarwood and South River Road; Robichak and Jean said a fully signalized four‑way intersection with Opticon preemption was estimated at about $600,000 and that timeline coordination with DOT will be necessary because larger corridor work is planned for future years. Several councilors and committee members said they wanted more complete comparisons with recent projects; the Facilities Committee reported a 6‑to‑1 vote in favor of recommending the concept to the council for further consideration.

Council chair Lori Radke and staff said no formal action would be taken tonight; the town manager indicated the project is likely to be included in the manager’s upcoming budget submission, with public hearings and bonding discussion to follow if the council chooses to move the project toward a warrant article.

Council debate included at least one committee dissent: Councilor Sowell explained she voted against the committee recommendation because she wanted a broader review of town facility plans and concern that placing a second full station on South River Road without a complementary plan for the existing main station could increase response times for some neighborhoods.