GREENFIELD — The mayor has asked City Council to approve in October another $5 million on top of the $10 million it approved earlier this year for a new Fire Station because there are expenses that weren’t anticipated when the project was first discussed and the former mayor requested money that wasn’t approved until several months after he had left office.
“The current budget for building the new Fire Station did not include either money to purchase property for the permanent building and purchase and build a temporary firehouse with related structures,” Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said in an email Saturday. “Those costs have to come out of the $10 million funding, leaving the budget for design, construction and related ‘soft costs’ short by several million dollars.”
Since the council approved the $10 million in May, Wedegartner said the city has learned it cannot use municipal property on Riddell Street like it had originally planned, because Greenfield won’t receive the $2.5 million originally earmarked for property cleanup as a result of the pandemic and a related lack of state funding.
Instead, the city hopes to purchase property at Main Street and Coombs Avenue, the open-air market property, for an amount that has not yet been disclosed for the purpose of housing a permanent Fire Station. The mayor made an offer on the former Carr Hardware building on Main and Wells streets, but never heard back from the owner. That was the city’s first choice.
The city also wants to build a temporary station for $1.7 million to allow the Greenfield Public Library project to move forward as planned so that it doesn’t lose its funding. The library must break ground, according to the state, by April 22. Otherwise the city will have to request an extension.
The temporary Fire Station would be built on the municipal parking lot on Hope Street. Fire Chief Robert Strahan said during last week’s City Council meeting he does not want to move to a temporary location unless he knows the money has been secured for a permanent station because it would not be fair to firefighters to end up in a small, temporary space for many years.
“The Fire Station is not ‘just a garage’ that houses fire trucks,” Strahan said, adding that many key functions happen within a fire station, like maintaining equipment, keeping equipment cleaned and decontaminated, training and much more.
“There’s a lot that needs to be considered,” Strahan said.
He said the city needs to build a Fire Station that enhances, not hinders, emergency response.
City Council Vice President Otis Wheeler said at that City Council meeting he is in favor of both a library and a new Fire Station, but is concerned about voting another $5 million without plans for a permanent station so that he can feel comfortable the amount needed won’t keep increasing.
Council President Ashli Stempel-Rae said at the meeting she is concerned that planning for the Fire Station is backward — the city is assigning a figure to build before it has a site.
“We want to make sure the council and people of Greenfield get the information they need,” she said.
Precinct 6 Councilor Sheila Gilmour said constituents need to be able to trust city officials, and while she is in favor of a new Fire Station, she doesn’t want costs to rise to well beyond what people were originally told.
“We’ve looked at many properties,” Wedegartner said. “Our original plan was to build on city-owned property. That is no longer possible.”
Project Manager Neil Joyce, who spoke at the City Council meeting, and the mayor said it might not be possible for the city to come up with solid plans for a permanent Fire Station until the city has purchased a property. Then, the city could develop the plans and present them before the extra $5 million is voted.
Wedegartner and Joyce said it is possible costs could increase even beyond the $15 million to as much as $20 million or so, but Wedegartner said the city would pursue other funding, like grants, if that were to happen.
The city has decided it will not include police and dispatchers by building a public safety complex because it won’t be able to afford that until 2030 or later, so police and dispatchers will stay on High Street.
“Two apparatus structures will be built on the municipal parking lot, if funding is approved by City Council, along with one or two small buildings that would house equipment, a day room and living quarters for on-duty firefighters,” Joyce said of the plan for the temporary Fire Station.
If approved, bidding would happen for construction of the temporary structures over the holidays, and construction would begin next year so the current Fire Station could be handed over to the library for demolition. That would most likely happen in late summer to early fall, Joyce said.
While it was suggested that the Fire Department stay where it is during the early days of the new library construction so that there is time to purchase the property for a new Fire Station and develop plans before voting more money, officials said there cannot be construction vehicles on or near the same property where fire trucks and emergency vehicles are coming and going due to safety concerns.
The permanent station would most likely not be built until at least the end of 2023, so the department would spend about two years at a temporary site.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.