Tyngsborough leaders back a $24.8 million ceiling for proposed Winslow-area fire station; debt-exclusion to appear on May ballot

Town Manager Colin Moiselle and members of a Fire Station Building Committee told the Tyngsborough Select Board on April 6 that a new centrally staffed fire station on the Winslow School parcel would address health, safety and response-time problems at the town's current Kendall Road facility and that schematic design work supports a single-story station with five double drive-through bays.

"The combined total project budget ... stands at 24.8 million," Moiselle said, describing the $24.8 million figure as the ceiling the town would ask voters to authorize at town meeting and at the ballot. He said the construction-only estimate is about $22 million.

Why build now, the manager and committee members said, hinges on firefighter health and station capability. The towns needs assessment concluded the center station lacks dedicated decontamination space and cannot house all required apparatus, leaving equipment outdoors and slowing response when crews must reach outlying stored units. Those conditions, the committee argued, make recruitment and retention more difficult.

Moiselle explained how the project would be paid for: through a time-limited debt exclusion on property tax bills. Using a conservative 5% interest assumption and a 30-year note, the presentation estimated annual debt service at roughly $1.6 million and an annual tax impact of about $346 for the average single-family home valued at about $642,000. He said the town would stage borrowing to limit first-year impacts rather than issuing the entire authorization at once.

The schematic design is intentionally conservative, the committee said. It includes standard construction contingency, an owners contingency and an additional 10% design contingency to cover schematic-to-final design changes; Moiselle told the board roughly 20% of the $24.8M is contingency. The committee also said it had prioritized town-owned parcels to avoid acquisition costs and selected the Winslow School site at 250 Middlesex Road because it best met the programs minimum buildable acreage and central location needs.

The presentation acknowledged the Winslow Schools local significance and the limits of public funding for restoration. Moiselle noted that the building is listed on the Massachusetts Register of Historic Places, a symbolic registry that does not prevent demolition; he said Community Preservation Committee (CPC) funds alone could not fully restore the school and that approximately $1.3 million of previously appropriated CPC money remains unspent and could be rescinded by town meeting if members choose.

Select Board members questioned the size (committee reported about 19,700—20,000 square feet as program guidance), contingency assumptions and timing. Several urged more outreach and clearer voter communications in the weeks before the May 5 town meeting and the May town election. The committee said it plans multiple information sessions and online materials ahead of the town meeting vote.

After the presentation and questions, the Select Board voted to place the debt-exclusion question authorizing borrowing for final design and construction on the May town election ballot and recommended the article to voters. The warrant posting and recommendation leave open the procedural path at town meeting and the election; Moiselle emphasized that town meeting would set a ceiling amount but actual borrowing and contract awards occur later and could be lower than the $24.8M ceiling authorized by voters.

What happens next: the Fire Station Building Committee will continue public outreach and finalize design and costing ahead of town meeting. If town meeting and the May election both approve the debt-exclusion question, the town would proceed to final design and then to bidding and construction in stages consistent with the appropriation and borrowing plan.