After hearing the outlandish proposal presented for a combined Public Safety Complex at the Aug.t 15 Town Council meeting, I thought there must be another suitable site for the PSC that would not be tied to immense profit for an out-of-state investor. With FULL acknowledgement that both our Fire and Police departments are in desperate need of new, state-of-the art facilities, I have submitted the the following to the Town Council for consideration.
What feels like an elephant on the table, the public parking lot between Chapman and Davis Streets (behind Wilson’s), seems like an ideal location for a public safety complex.
Some points to consider:
The Chapman/Davis site is over two acres, in comparison to the 1.6 acres at the Wells/Main site.
The town already owns the Chapman/Davis site
The town would not permanently lose prime Main Street real estate from property tax rolls.
While the Chapman/Davis lot was intended to solve a perceived parking issue downtown, it’s seriously underutilized and may well be used even less when the parking garage opens and the library lot is constructed.
The existing police station could be sold (valued at $1,072,800 in the proposal presented to the Council on Aug. 15) to benefit Greenfield, not GIVEN to an out-of-state investor who will either sell or develop it to profit even further
Redesign and a new RFP issuance for the Chapman/Davis site would allow for an above-board, competitive bidding process.
The Chapman/Davis site is nearly shovel-ready; it would require minimal demolition and preparation to make it ready for construction.
Construction could move forward more quickly, allowing the fire station to move sooner and library construction to begin sooner; the plans developed could potentially be reused or adapted for the Chapman/Davis site.
The sloping site would allow for underground access to a parking garage, and 65 new parking spaces (not replicated from any other site) will be part of the library construction.
It’s far easier to displace parking temporarily (which will, in large part, be replaced or augmented in the parking garage), than a whole municipal function like the Fire Department, to accommodate the library project commencing more quickly.
This site seems like it would be easier to get in and out of than the Wells Street site, while still being close to Main Street and the center of town.
To repeat, Greenfield would be doing for itself instead of lining the pockets of an out-of-state investor.
If more land were needed for the PSC, one option could be purchasing part of the Wilson’s parking lot (rarely full, even at the height of holiday shopping), which could be divided in half, running parallel with Chapman and Davis. Alternately, two other Chapman Street lots owned by Wilson’s are empty and an eyesore (the empty GCTV cellar hole and a vacant lot from an apartment building that burned down). This could be the entry to the police portion of the PSC, or could be redeveloped to replace parking for Wilson’s as noted above.
While there are surely many other aspects to be considered, I strongly encourage the Town Council. municipal departments, and citizens to at least consider this outline objectively and in the manner it is intended: as an opportunity for Greenfield to move forward with a fiscally responsible project that provides important new space for two critical municipal functions and benefits OUR community, instead of an out-of-state investor who adds nothing to our community (and in fact has taken money from us through legal proceedings in the past).
Greenfield taxpayers (who will bear the cost of this project) should contact both their precinct and at-large city councilors to strongly encourage them to explore this or other alternate options for a new Public Safety Complex. All councilor email addresses are available on the city website at: https://greenfield-ma.gov/p/776/Town-Council.
Amy Moscaritolo is a Greenfield resident and served on the Master Plan Advisory Committee in 2013.