Residents voice cost concerns as Waterville approves fire-hall change orders

Ron Van Houdt, a Waterville resident, told the City Council he believed the proposed new fire hall was priced at about $5.5 million and warned of ‘‘long-term debt’’ and a projected $3.6 million interest burden, saying residents felt ‘‘in the dark’’ about how costs were calculated. Mayor Bill Conlin responded that the city has held multiple public meetings and committee sessions and that the current project reflects updated costs: "we're not building the fire station that we need today. We're building the fire station that's going to be here 40 or 50 years from now."