BERNARDSTON — A design for a new fire station will be offered to voters at the Annual Town Meeting on May 8.
The Selectboard reviewed two bids for the project at a meeting last week. At town meeting, voters will decide whether the town will spend $18,000 to purchase the less expensive of the two design proposals, Town Coordinator Lou Bordeaux said.
The fire department and the Selectboard agree that the department’s current building is too small. The town had to purchase specially designed firetrucks to fit inside, and there is very little room left for office space.
The plan the town is now considering is to build a new garage, likely large enough to fit four full-sized firetrucks, on the east side of the fire station on Church Street, next to the library. The current building would be repurposed for other department uses, mostly office space, Fire Chief Pete Shedd said.
After purchasing the design plan, construction of the new building will require separate funding and another Town Meeting decision, possibly at a specially scheduled town meeting later this year, Bordeaux said.
Most of the new building will be paid for by a $1 million grant from the state. Bernardston’s contribution will likely be between $200,000 and $300,000 on top of the grant, the Selectboard estimates.
In order to use the grant money, the town has to have its design plan in-hand. Fire Chief Shedd was hopeful that, once the town has the design plan, state funding will come through and construction would begin relatively soon.
If it all lines up, construction could begin any time after the start of the new budget year in July, Town Coordinator Bordeaux said.
The new plan will be considerably less expensive than other plans the town previously considered and rejected. At a Town Meeting in October 2017, voters rejected a $2.6 million plan to buy land at 23 Kringle Drive and build a new fire station there. In 2018 the Selectboard and fire department considered buying the Valley Concrete property on Route 10, near Mount Hermon Station Road; but the plan was scrapped due to concerns about the cost and of potentially increased response times.
Contact Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ex 261.