Norwich
The heads of the police and fire departments started off the presentation in Tracy Hall by touting the quality and frugality of the proposal that voters will consider on Tuesday.
“It’s a functional, well-designed building that will serve the community for many, many years,” Police Chief Doug Robinson told the audience of about 15 people.
As it stands, Norwich’s capital facilities design would demolish the leaky 50-year-old police station and add a new one onto the firehouse for a gross square footage of 5,900.
“The building now is falling apart,” Robinson said, “and this is our chance to move into something that is an office building instead of a remodeled house.”
Police would receive improved and secure interview rooms, among other amenities, and would finally be able to move out of a building that, as Montpelier architect Jay White put it, was “never meant to be a police station.”
The new building is also slated to receive “net-zero” energy-efficiency renovations, which add to the construction cost but, town leaders say, will save money over time.
This latest plan for Norwich follows years of discussion over how best to shore up the town’s emergency services buildings.
As of this week, that debate was still in progress.
On Wednesday, Christopher Ashley, the lone opponent of the plan on the Selectboard, continued to outline his objections in a post on the town’s online message board.
Ashley, who supported a $3 million proposal that voters rejected on two occasions last year, but which also included improvements to public works facilities, said the current design did not meet enough of the departments’ needs.
In his post, he advocated additions to the plans: a larger firefighter training room, more showers, an expanded parking lot and space for future additions.
“I strongly believe that Norwich needs to provide efficient and useful space for our police and fire departments,” he wrote. “The changes that I have suggested would only modestly increase the cost, and they would greatly improve the functionality and usefulness of the building. I hope the town will pause, engage in another round of discussing the proposed design, and build a building that truly meets our needs.”
In past weeks, Ashley also has objected to the speed at which the board has worked in order to bring a bond to the Nov. 8 general election ballot; town officials, he noted, underestimated the project budget when setting the bond at $1.41 million, and will have to figure out how to make up an extra $70,000 or so later.
Ashley in his email suggested waiting until the 2017 Town Meeting to put a proposal before voters.
The department heads themselves, however, appeared ready to get the project underway.
Although Robinson on Thursday noted that there had been “compromises” during the lengthy planning process, he said the facility would meet his officers’ needs.
“It allows for future expansion if we need it, (but) I don’t see that happening for many, many years,” he said, adding that the proposed structure would “serve us for a long, long time.”
Selectman Steve Flanders said during the presentation that if voters approved the bond, town officials could solicit bids this coming winter and start construction in the spring. The building could be complete by the end of 2017, he said. Based on that schedule, White, the architect, said, Ashley’s suggestion to wait could in fact cost the town money.
White said that expenses could rise if voter approval were postponed until March because contractors would have less notice to begin construction; also, he said, the delay could push the work into the following winter, which could increase the town’s outlay.
“You’re much better off to approve it now in November, and then add in all of the things that (Ashley) was thinking of,” White said.
Those in attendance largely expressed support for the proposal.
“Thanks again for making it $1.41 million instead of … $3 million,” said Stuart Richards, a resident who later said he had opposed the last two bond requests.
The polls will be open Tuesday at Tracy Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the general election warning.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.
Clarification: The $3 million proposal that Norwich Selectman Christopher Ashley supported but was defeated at 2015 Town Meeting included both a police and fire building and renovations to the public works garage and a new highway storage shed. An earlier version of this story failed to note that the earlier proposal included improvements to the public works facilities.