Dalton Weighs Sites for Combined Public Safety Facility
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| The committee is weighing several sites in response to a request for proposals that could accommodate a combined police and fire facility. |
DALTON, Mass. — Over the course of several meetings, officials have said both the police and fire departments have outgrown their current spaces, prompting discussions about whether a combined public safety complex could offer a feasible long-term solution.
The Fire District recently presented a community and space needs analysis that demonstrated how the Fire Department has "outgrown" the station — facing both space limitations and state regulation requirements, particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The police station has also faced longstanding issues, leading to discussions about the need for a new facility after Police Chief Deanna Strout emphasized the department's "dire condition" in 2024, which led to the establishment of a Public Safety Facility ad-hoc committee.
The committee spent more than a year developing a report for the Select Board, while working with architect Brian Humes of Jacunski Humes Architects LLC.
The report delineated four options — build on town-owned land, build on private land, renovate or repurpose the existing buildings, and do nothing.
The full report can be found here.
However, the project stalled after the only suitable town-owned property identified was adjacent to the Senior Center, a location that drew criticism from some neighbors.
In response, the town sent out a request for proposals for land acquisitions in April and established a new iteration of the Public Safety Facility Advisory committee.
This time the committee is made up of only two of the original members, Don Davis and Ryan Flanders.
Also serving is Select Board member Robert Bishop, Strout, interim Fire Chief Ryan Foley, Water Commissioner Jim Driscoll, and the Police Department's Executive Assistant Rebecca Whitaker. Town Manager Eric Anderson is an ex-officio member.
The town and the Fire District are separate governing bodies. The town is overseen by the Select Board and town manager, while the Fire District is overseen by the Board of Water Commissioners.
"I'm looking forward to this joint venture with the Fire District, and I want to assure the people in the Fire District this is not an attempt for the town to take over the Fire District. We are going to respect each other. It's time to work together for a cost-saving measure here," Bishop said.
Anderson said he followed up with the town's attorney who confirmed that a project like this would be possible with an intermunicipal agreement.
"But that's kind of putting the cart before the horse. We need a site, we need a plan, and then we need to start figuring out how we're going to fund it," Anderson said.
"[Then] what the cost share would be between the entities. I think that's probably in the end the easiest portion of this to work out, not the hardest."
The committee, operating under the same name as the initial body, is tasked with reviewing the land acquisition proposals to determine the best fit for a public safety facility, possibly including the fire station.
At the start of the meeting, Dave Martindale characterized the meeting as illegal, noting that the posted agenda identified it as a meeting of the committee on which he serves and is still listed as a member on the town's website.
Dave Martindale's name is still listed on the town's website. He says Tuesday's meeting with new members was illegal.
He also said his committee was not "quite done" with its charge as it was waiting on a rendering and cost analysis from Humes.
"I understand that on your agenda for tonight you're going to be selecting officers for the site evaluation committee, not the Dalton Public Safety Advisory Committee," Martindale said during the committee's meeting.
"And I would caution you that when choosing leaders, refrain from choosing anyone with a potential conflict of interest."
He also expressed his intention to file an Open Meeting Law complaint in response to the meeting.
In response, Anderson said the current committee is separate from the Public Safety Facility Committee and was established by the Select Board in June specifically to review the RFP responses received by the town.
The town received three proposals for potential land acquisitions for the facility: a 172,000-square-foot parcel on West Housatonic Street, owned by Crane & Co., identified on the assessor's map as Map 115, Lot 3, for $69,700; a 70,111-square-foot property owned by Taylor Development that includes 726–730 Main St. and 70 Myrtle St. for $975,000; and a 116,612-square-foot property at 197 Main St., owned by Isa and Bishir Ali, for $900,000.
The parcel on West Housatonic Street particularly stood out to some officials because of its cost, location, and Anderson's belief that it would make the town eligible for more state and federal funding being directly across "from the sole source of currency for the United States."
The town previously hired Foresight Land Services to flag the wetland areas on the property and determine the amount of buildable land.
After reviewing the findings, Humes said he did not believe the site was large enough to accommodate both facilities, Bishop said.
A conclusion he disagreed with because it is still unknown how big of a building both the Fire Department and Police Department need and that there is a good chance that there can be multiple common spaces to save on cost and footprint. Additionally, Humes did not use any area in the buffer zone, he said.
"I think it's time we all pull together this community to do this," Bishop said.
However, as discussions on each of the properties continued it became evident to the members that the committee also needs to determine the needs of the Fire Department if they are to be considered a combined facility.
"It would be pretty tough to evaluate any piece of property right now, so we could actually see a plan," Davis said. Davis was also elected as chair of the committee at the meeting.
Tags: fire station, police station, public safety buildings,
