Dalton Safety Facility Committee 'Taps Brakes' on Property Discussions
DALTON, Mass. — With the failure of Article 13 at the annual town meeting, the First Street site for a proposed police facility is no longer being considered.
"At this moment, I would say, unless we hear differently, what we need to do next is start looking at alternate sites," Craig Wilbur, co-chair, at the first meeting of the Public Safety Facility Committee since the vote.
"But I think in order to do that, as you mentioned, public engagement is paramount at this point in time."
The article on the town warrant would have released the former Dalton High School property from a prior town meeting vote requiring it to be developed for housing. The site had been considered prime for a police station.
The committee voted to table further action on discussions for potential sites of the police station and will establish a community outreach working group that will develop a plan for the next steps.
Several members of the board emphasized the need to get community feedback on the public safety facility to understand the community's sentiment.
Don Davis, committee co-chair, suggested that they "tap the brakes on all the property stuff for now" and gather feedback from the community.
Community outreach is something that the committee planned to do at the start of the project. However, because of the fast pace of the process, that factor wasn't fully developed, Davis said.
The committee will be working to develop an initial action plan and a draft outline of what they want the community outreach to accomplish. The group will include representation from both voting and non-voting members, as well as community volunteers.
Members will wait until a meeting with full committee attendance before formalizing the group. During the next Public Safety Facility meeting, on May 27 at 6 p.m., the committee will focus on initial planning and setting up the working group's structure and objectives
Davis endorsed having Brian Humes of Jacunski Humes Architects LLC, the project designer, create visuals and a presentation of the needs assessment for the community to react to.
He also recommended that the committee reach out to the Select Board, encouraging its members to discuss the potential future of the high school property, including possibly selling it to have it developed into housing.
Former committee member member Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo referenced the new Williamstown fire station that is being developed on 0.46 acres.
He stressed the need for community input before making any final decisions regarding dismissing a one-acre property as an option.
On Friday, Pagliarulo submitted his resignation from the committee because of his recent election to the Select Board.
Committee members were appointed by the Select Board, so Pagliarulo said he felt it would be unethical to remain as a voting member of the committee. However, he will be a Select Board liaison to aid in the work the committee has been doing for the last nine months.
"I think the key is communication with the community to support anything. They've made it pretty clear that they don't want speeding, noisy police here," said Dave Martindale, committee member.
Pagliarulo said he has heard from representatives from the Community Recreation Association about a potential tour of an 11,000 square foot building adjacent to the CRA, currently used as the Youth Center DYC gym and meeting rooms.
As part of a long-term project, the CRA is planning to build an addition to replace the DYC gym and meeting rooms, and the organization is open to collaborating with the committee to facilitate the addition while transitioning the DYC into a public safety facility next to Town Hall, he said.
"I think we all agree [with Pagliarulo] that with this site off the table, we've been put into a situation where we have to start thinking about alternates that we maybe didn't want to think about before, and looking at existing properties we have, and how we make better of that," said Wilbur.
"But I agree that we're too soon to make any decisions. I really would like community outreach and engagement. Then we talk about properties. Then we talk with [Humes] about what he wants to do next with his feasibility study."
Tags: police station,
