GREENFIELD — The mayor’s current proposal to build a public safety complex on Main and Wells streets looks to be in trouble with the City Council, which reviews the idea Wednesday.
Since the council last discussed the mayor’s proposal to lease a building from a private developer with an option to buy, new ideas have emerged and the council seems to be changing direction.
Several councilors clearly are uncomfortable with Mayor William Martin’s proposal. Several are leaning toward ditching the combined fire-police-dispatch station on private land in lieu of a standalone fire station on city-owned land.
That would give the city more control over the project and allow a planned state-subsidized library replacement to be built on the current fire station site.
In the month since the council allowed Martin to continue negotiating with downtown landlord Dyer Investments, at least two different moves have been proposed by councilors for consideration Wednesday.
Billy Walker of Dyer Investments and the mayor have modified the proposed lease to include stronger language that suggests an additional way for the city to get out of a 30-year, nearly $60 million lease if it receives a grant toward new fire house in the first decade of the lease. In that case, the city could buy the property.
One of the councilors who want a fresh direction is Sheila Gilmour.
“I started thinking most of what I’m hearing from my constituents is that we don’t need a public safety complex, but they do recognize the need for a firehouse,” she told the Recorder.
Gilmour proposes a new firehouse on public land, which includes “a transparent planning process that is open to the public,” and a building committee that includes members of the public, the City Council and the Fire Department.
Before councilors vote on that resolution Wednesday, they get to reconsider last month’s vote that allowed Martin to continue lease talks with Dyer.
The firehouse resolution states the current fire station is in “disrepair” has become a “dangerous work environment” but that the council “does not believe a large public safety complex is necessary to meet Greenfield’s current or future needs” and lacks public support.
“Instead of waiting for the mayor to bring us something we like, I thought this was a way to signal to the mayor this is what we’re looking for and this is what my constituents are asking for,” Gilmour said.
The resolution suggests Shattuck Park, near the Greenfield High School, as a possible location for a firehouse, but allows for other locations, as Gilmour said she’s not “married” to Shattuck Park.
Gilmour’s idea was echoed by others on the council.
“This really needs to be a publicly run project,” City Council President Karen “Rudy” Renaud said. “There’s a greater level of accountability and transparency when projects are kept in the public domain and not handed over to a private developer.”
Renaud said she supports building just a firehouse, because she’s “not convinced that we need a public safety complex.” Renaud was not present at the August full council meeting.
There’s been talk of a different location on Wells Street, Gilmour said, and she also flirted with the idea of the French King Highway where a big box store has been proposed and has been tied up in court. Martin agreed that the French King Highway property is a possibility.
Councilor Isaac Mass said his ideal spot is Newton School. That plan would mean the elementary school would potentially move to the Green River School building.
Mass also suggested residents might prefer the south side of the former Lunt Silversmith property, which the city owns and which is currently vacant.
Reconsideration to allow Martin to negotiate with Dyer was moved by Councilor Otis Wheeler.
“I want to have that conversation with the full council and try to come to a more firm conclusion on whether this is a route forward or not, because there are multiple councilors against it, and I’m not necessarily convinced myself,” Wheeler said.
He and other councilors like Gilmour expressed concern over doing the project with a private developer, because workers wouldn’t necessarily be paid union wages as required in public projects — a point that upset some of the union supporters on the council.
“I fully support construction of a new fire station. I think that’s the priority here,” Wheeler said. “If we could get a full public safety complex, then that’d be ideal, but that may not be realistic.”
Mass also questioned whether it would be appropriate to buy into a $60 million leased public safety complex because that only requires a seven-vote majority of the 13-member council, whereas the city borrowing money to build a project on its own would require nine votes.
“I think it’s a backdoor way to get a major capital project approved with seven votes and not nine,” Mass said.
Considering the city’s current debt from previous projects, Greenfield is in a “very precarious position to be taking on a big project like this,” Mass said.
If a clear road map to address all of Greenfield’s debt and upcoming debt, from projects to vehicles, is drawn up, then Mass said he would feel better about the situation.
Martin’s concept of a leased public safety complex imagines the city would establish a regional dispatch center that would help pay the lease. Nevertheless, Martin said this month he agrees changes need to be made in the original lease proposed by Dyer.
He said he would consider changes in the lease proposed by councilors. The mayor suggested it’s unlikely the city could finance a standalone fire station.
You can reach Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264