POLAND — The Fire Rescue Building Expansion Committee was told Tuesday that its request for $3.8 million to upgrade and expand the current Fire Rescue building is more than the town can afford.

“What is proposed is everybody’s wish list,” Selectman Larry Moreau said.

Moreau said the town of New Gloucester had recently completed work on a new facility that was a “wow,” and compared to what New Gloucester had done for its money, “This just doesn’t compute.”

Everyone on the Board of Selectmen agreed that the existing facility was inadequate to meet the town’s needs, but no one wanted to take a number of that magnitude to the voters.

Kristi Woloszyn, of the architect/engineering firm of Gawron Turgeon, estimated it would cost $1.06 million just to fix the deficiencies in the existing station.

She pointed out that the $3.8 million included more than just the construction costs, but everything from permits to furniture.

John Cleveland, the town’s economic development adviser, said that according to Maine Bond Bank estimates, the town would be looking at a 20-year bond that would cost about $275,000 a year.

He said there might be a surplus of as much as $100,000 from the $4 million water and sewer project now under way, and the town could apply a portion of the revenue streams from the two Poland Spring tax-increment financing deals to reduce the bond’s carrying cost.

Fire Rescue Chief Mark Bosse said grants were available that could whittle costs down a bit.

“In September, we applied for a $163,000 grant to address sprinkler, smoke detectors and the exhaust system in the existing building,” Bosse said.

Moreau said that the board had to see alternatives to a masonry building with a steel roof and the like, to see “what we can cut that number to.”

Ray Waterhouse, one of the Fire Department’s founding fathers, said the town should be proud of how far the department has come.

“It has been my experience the people of the town will do amazing things for their department,” Waterhouse said.

Moreau questioned to what extent today’s economic circumstances might affect that support.

“This is the first time in my memory the people have turned down a school budget and they’ve done it three times,” Moreau said.

Members of the Fire Rescue Building Expansion Committee agreed to get figures for using alternative materials.

“We need to sharpen our pencils, see where we can trim,” Bosse said.

Copy the Story Link