Possible sites for Bourne fire station narrowed to three. Here's where they are
BOURNE – The list of properties for a new fire station long proposed to serve south of the Bourne Bridge has been methodically reduced this summer from seven locations, then to four sites, and now to three.
Clay Pond Road is no longer one of the choices.
Four locations were too many at this point, but three might be workable going forward, Town Administrator Marlene McCollem told the Southside Fire Station Feasibility/Design/Building Committee on July 12.
To that end, committee members Fire Chief David Cody and Select Board Chair Peter Meier quickly recommended eliminating 169 Clay Pond Road in Monument Beach. The vote was unanimous. The site once housed a roller-skating rink.
The remaining properties are county land at County Road and Dr. Julius Kelley Drive in Pocasset, the ballfield tract along Shore Road in Monument Beach, and so-called Motor Way off Route 28 (MacArthur Boulevard) near the Clay Pond Road intersection.
Three possible sites remain
Cody said these locations provide adequate response times to all areas south of the bridge, which is now served by firefighter/EMTs in a mobile home outside the uninhabitable Monument Beach firehouse. The Pocasset station is also closed.
The county tract could adequately meet current department needs, but not future delivery of service, Cody said. This may prove to be a killing point for the property, but there still is some committee support for it.
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Select Board member Mary Jane Mastrangelo said “the biggest reality now is deciding on a property purchase” of the private Motor Way tract. She said a debt exclusion request to override Proposition 2½ would ultimately be needed to finance a fire station at that location with its direct access to the boulevard.
The cost? Possibly up to $3 million for the land has been suggested by committee members and $12 million for a station with direct access to the boulevard and acreage available for future municipal needs.
Mastrangelo and Meier agree a request for a property purchase and funds for a station are not realistic options for an October Special Town Meeting. They said the May 2023 annual session would be a more viable opportunity.
Project manager sought to review sites
Committee Chair Wayne Sampson wants an owner’s project manager (OPM) to review the remaining station sites. To that end, interviews with two firms are scheduled July 25 at the Main Street Community Center.
The companies interested in an OPM retainer are Pomroy Associates of East Bridgewater and Colliers Project Leaders of Boston. McCollem will draft the same questions for both firms to be asked by the same committee members. The questions will go to Town Counsel Bryan Bertram for review.
Previously: Bourne cuts list of seven sites to four for fire station south of canal
McCollem said once an OPM is retained, she will proceed with efforts to hire a project architect.
Things to consider for new firehouse
A new southside firehouse location has not been an easy municipal project. Overall public safety and reasonable response times as well as citizen dissatisfaction with proposed sites have always been frustrating factors.
Along with suitable geography for a station, the goals now are to determine a suitable property, initiate public education about the project, televise committee meetings, determine costs, secure financing, and construction.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne site for new fire station down to three. Here's where
