Lanesborough Public Safety Building Panel Mulls Next Steps After Survey
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — With a couple hundred responses to a survey on the town's police and EMS facility needs, the Public Safety Building Committee is now looking at the best steps forward for proposals and funding.
"You hear a lot of things," Chair Mark Siegars said to the committee last week. "Some people are really upset. Some people are like, 'Why are we wasting our time? They already did a good plan.' Some people are saying, 'Why are we wasting our time? We don't have any money.'"
Members voiced support for making a comprehensive report of every multiple-choice response and the written responses. In the next week, they will have a summary of the nearly 250 returned surveys that were released last month.
A special town meeting in March voted down a nearly $6 million proposal for a combined police and emergency medical station. Around 350 voters attended the special town meeting.
The former Police Station Committee was dissolved and the Public Safety Building Committee is now charged with producing a proposal that resonates with residents. This could include a smaller building or just a police station to cut down on costs.
A geotechnical survey revealed that the fill on 405 Main St., the site of the downvoted proposal, is not presently buildable and needs to be removed.
To make sure that all options are explored, the panel is looking into the fire association's lease with the town for its South Main Street station to see if the town has a right to inspect the building. The ambulance is currently sharing space in the fire house.
One member said if a proposal for a police and ambulance facility moves forward and the fire station falls down, the committee did not do its job correctly.
"If you're going to get rid of the EMS at the police station then you need to do something for 24-hour coverage of the EMS and if that means making renovations to the existing facility to provide those things that would it be called for like bunks, heating, improve the kitchen, insulate the building, do things like that, then we need to know that and find out what the cost is," Siegars said.
"I think it's part of what we have to do, from my perspective, as a committee to point out the alternatives. Because people might not like a $6 million building that's police and ambulance but if it's going to cost $10 million to provide that same ambulance service in the building we already have, it's a cheaper alternative to have a building that has the police and ambulance in it and then worry about the fire as a separate item."
He pointed out that the committee is just collecting information.
"If there are personality issues in town, that's not our job," he added. "We're just trying to get the facilities in place so that we have the most efficient and effective delivery of public services."
On Monday, the Select Board discussed the fire house lease in an executive session.
During the open session, the board addressed the town's ability to impose short-term rental taxes in Lanesborough. Siegars urged the board to pursue this as a potential revenue source and it was well received.
"My interest in this is through the Public Safety Building Committee and one of the tests the selectmen assigned that committee with is to find other sources of revenue in town if possible," he explained.
"There are three different kinds of short-term rental taxes that can be applied by the town. There is the Airbnb, there are motels, and then there's what's called owner-occupied where you have two or three apartments that you rent out for short term. The governing standard for all of them is 90 days. It's not 30 days, it's 90 days so any property that's used for rental purposes for 90 days in a year might be subject to this tax."
He believes this would have to be adopted through a town meeting.
"This is just kind of peaking, I think, across Berkshire County," Town Administrator Gina Dario said.
"Even today, I'm getting comments. People are trying to understand what other towns are doing, how towns are approaching this challenge, what's right for each town knowing that the character across North County might be slightly different to South County."
Dario does not have a position on what should be done but said the town is interested in trying to set up an initial platform for how to approach it.
Select Board member Timothy Sorrell clarified that when he brought up the potential tax source, he was not after the residents who are renting apartments, as he is the short-term renters who residents say are scooping up houses through limited liability companies.
"I'd like to see us pursue this because I think there's gonna be money made for the town and it won't burden the taxpayers here in town," he said.
The first step in looking into this is to look at how many properties are registered as short-term rentals in Lanesborough and to gather information from other communities through the same process.
The committee has been looking into every possible revenue source for the project including fundraising from large donors.
Tags: Lanesborough Police Station,
