DALTON, Mass. — The Public Safety Advisory Committee is split on how to proceed in obtaining grant funding. 

 

During a meeting in November, some members suggested forming a subcommittee to work with the grant writer in identifying and pursuing grant funding sources.

 

However, other members expressed concerns that this may be premature before a feasibility study is complete.

 

During a meeting in September, the Select Board allocated $100,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act funds for a feasibility study and a grant consultant for a proposed public safety facility.

 

During that meeting, committee member Anthony Pagliarulo demonstrated the committee's findings thus far — that the current police station is not a viable option to house a 21st-century police facility, 

and a feasibility study and grant writing are needed.

 

 

During the November meeting, Police Chief Deanna Strout expressed her confusion about why the committee is discussing applying for grants early in this process. 

 

"We don't have finances, we don't have a location, we don't have any information from a feasibility study. Why are we 10 miles ahead of where we need to be? Get the feasibility done," she said. 

 

"We don't need subcommittees yet. We aren't even close to that right now. I appreciate the thought process, but we are way far ahead of where we are." 

 

Strout agreed with the committee's previous steps of getting a grant writer on board. During a meeting in October, the committee met a consultant, Lisa Frisch. 

 

Frisch has a background in criminal justice and law enforcement and has been a consultant for grant writing for 20 years.

 

Strout said to let her, or whoever the grant writer they choose, evaluate what is out there but emphasized that she, the Police Department's executive assistant Rebecca Whitaker, Communications Director Gabrielle Taglieri, and others in the department apply for grants all the time. 

 

"It's what we do. We get more money in grants than any other department in this town," she said. 

 

Strout highlighted that grants have short deadlines and may not be available later in the process.

 

Committee co-Chair Don Davis agreed with Strout, adding that the committee doesn't know what they are going to get yet because it is unclear what is feasible. 

 

"We're way ahead of the curve. If we're trying to build a Cadillac, but we can only get a Toyota. We got to figure out what we're getting first, and then we can figure out where we can go get money to take that Toyota, to bring it up to a Cadillac," Davis said. 

 

"Before we even do that. I think that we have to have some input from the townspeople to see if this is even going to be a liable thing." 

 

Co-Chair Craig Wilbur argued that there are grants that repeat every year and emphasized the importance of exploring grant opportunities to lower the taxpayer burden for funding the new public safety facility and help the towns people feel more comfortable. 

 

"I'm not talking about going out and looking for every grant available for construction. What can we get in the next year that will help us advance this," he said. 

 

He also said there are grants available to help fund the pre-planning and planning activities that will get the project to the point of being shovel-ready. 

 

In a followup, Wilbur explained that such activities include schematic design, design development, and construction documents such as bid documents. 

 

It is hard to say how much these would cost, but based on the estimated cost of construction, these activities are typically 23 percent of construction cost, he said.